Elizabeth Jackson One-Shots
by bfalt1
Summary: A collection of One-Shots based around characters and events from my ongoing Elizabeth Jackson series, which follows the adventures of Percy and Annabeth's oldest daughter. If you haven't read those, check them out first.
1. Dad and I Have a Late Night Chat

**AN: Hello everyone! Welcome to my Elizabeth Jackson One-Shots! I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year's Eve, and I hope you're all as excited for 2016 as I am.**

 **So a couple of things before we get started. First, if you are here and have not read my Elizabeth Jackson stories yet, then you're gonna want to go do that before you keep going, as the following One-Shots will contain spoilers for those.**

 **Secondly, for those of you who read my Jason Grace story and are still awaiting the promised One-Shot follow up... yeah, I'm really sorry that STILL isn't up yet. I ran into the enemy of all writers with that one: writer's block. But I assure you that it will get done and be posted soon. I'm finally making some headway on that, so keep your eyes peeled.**

 **OKAY, finally time for this one-shot collection you clicked on. All the one-shots I post here will be based around characters and events from my Elizabeth Jackson series. In the author's note at the beginning of each posting I will give a brief summary of the individual one-shot as well as how far you need to have gotten in the series to avoid spoilers. As is policy with all my stories, if you leave questions in reviews, I will answer them the next time I upload to this story.**

 **I promise this is the last thing. On my profile there is a poll listing several of the OCs from my Elizabeth Jackson series. Whoever is the most voted for will be the subject of the next one-shot I post here, which will be on January 15th. So please go vote! I'm only leaving up the poll for another week, then I'm shutting it down so that I'll have time to actually write, edit, etc. the next one-shot. Alright, that's enough from me. Here's the story. DFTBA!**

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 **Summary: Elizabeth Jackson wakes up screaming in the middle of the night after reliving the worst moment of her life in her dreams. She's surprised to find her father downstairs, and Elizabeth realizes that she's not the only one with demons...**

 **Spoilers: Up through the end of "The Missing Prophecy"**

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Dad and I Have a Late Night Chat

I screamed, sitting bolt upright in my bed. I panted as I looked around my room, trying to figure out what was real. I sighed. It had just been a dream. But it had felt so real: the cars, the feeling of my sword colliding with Gaius's over and over, and... the last moment of the fight. I flexed the robotic right hand I now; a result of that fight. I scowled bitterly at the mechanical hand. Sure, it functioned just as well as a real hand. Better, even. But that wasn't the point. The point was that I was no longer whole. Gaius had stolen my hand, and now… I was broken.

I reached for my nightstand to grab my water bottle, but it was empty. I grunted in frustration. I swung myself out of bed, adjusted my vintage "Avenged Sevenfold" t-shirt, and quietly crept out of my room. I glanced down at the end of the hall, where the door to my parents' room was shut. Good, my scream hadn't woken Dad.

I went quietly downstairs and into the kitchen. To my surprise, my father actually _was_ awake, sitting at the kitchen table, a cup of coffee between his hands. "Dad?"

He looked up at me. He was paler than I'd ever seen him before and he had deep purple bags under his eyes. Nevertheless, he gave me a weary smile. "Elizabeth, what are you doing up?"

"Oh you know, just thought I'd sneak out in my pajamas," I said sarcastically. "Why do you think I have my water bottle on me? Don't want to get dehydrated while I'm wandering the City at night."

Dad snorted. "Weak attempt, Elizabeth. It would've been better if you said you were sneaking over to Gus's so you two could elope."

My face heated up. Gus and I had started dating two months ago, and Dad and Uncle Jason would not stop giving us a hard time about it. Nevertheless, I asked, "Well what are you doing up?"

"Well clearly I'm up because I caught wind of your plan to sneak out and intend to stop you," Dad replied. "Duh."

I rolled my eyes and moved over to the sink to fill up my water bottle. Then, I took a seat across from my father. As I got a closer look I frowned. He looked even worse than I'd realized. His skin wasn't just pale, it was clammy. Wrinkles I'd never noticed during the day stood out in sharp relief. His eyes, usually bright with humor, were dull, despite the sarcastic conversation we'd just had. "Dad, really, why are you awake? What's wrong?"

Dad must've seen the concern on my face because he sighed. "To be honest, Elizabeth, I wake up around this time a lot. When you're mother's home I can usually get back to sleep pretty quickly, but since she's away on this business trip of hers, I'm S.O.L."

Dad woke up around this time a lot? Just how often was that? And _why_? What could possibly make my father unable to sleep? It actually shook me quite a bit. Still, I opted to go light-hearted with what I said next, "Well maybe you can't go back to sleep because of that coffee."

"It is _decaf_ coffee," Dad pointed out. "And you never told me why you were _really_ awake."

"You never told me," I retorted.

A smile tugged at the corner of my father's lips. "I'm your father. I don't have to. But you still have to do what I say." Then he stuck his tongue out at me. It was a childish thing to do, but that's what made Dad who he was. He'd never shied away from being childish with my brother and I, and that was one of the things I loved about him. Very rarely did I see him serious, and I'd never seen him shaken up like he was now.

After a brief staring contest, I relented. "I had a bad dream," I admitted. " _The_ bad dream. I was back on the highway. I got to relive… y'know… _this_." I held up my celestial bronze hand, which was unusually exposed. During the day I never took off my black leather glove or the jacket I'd taken to wearing to cover up the metal. Even though I told myself it was to hide the robotic arm from mortals, I knew that the Mist would probably do that for me. If I was being completely honest with myself, it was so _I_ didn't have to see it.

Dad nodded pensively. He didn't tell me it was alright, because he knew it wasn't. He didn't say "I'm sorry," because he knew that wouldn't help me right now. It was another one of the things that made Dad so great. He got me. I suspected it was because of all the dangers he and Mom had faced themselves.

What he did end up saying was, "Bad dreams suck. But at least they end when you wake up."

I nodded. I studied my father's face again. He'd never really looked old, but right now, sitting wearily across from me, he did. The bags under his eyes made them look sunken. The low light in the kitchen made his black hair look slate grey.

It suddenly dawned on me that what had woken him up was also a nightmare. It sounded like it was a recurring one, too, based on what he'd said. How long had he been having the same nightmare? Months? Years?

I cleared my throat. "So, I told you what my bad dream was about. Now it's your turn to tell me what yours was about."

"I never said I had a bad dream."

"Yeah, but I'm smart, remember?" I said. "I figured it out."

"You are too much like your mother for my own good," Dad muttered. I chuckled very slightly, but quickly turned serious again.

"What are your nightmares about, Dad?" I repeated. I remembered asking him the same question, more or less, when I was very little. It was one of my earliest memories.

I'd woken up screaming, (not so different from tonight), and Dad had run into my room. _"Shh,"_ he'd said. _"Shh, it's okay sweetie. You're okay. It was just a nightmare."_

 _"A nightmare?"_ I'd asked, unfamiliar with the word.

 _"That's right, sweetie. Nightmares are bad, scary dreams. Everyone gets nightmares sometimes. But when we wake up, it's over. You don't have to be afraid of dreams. They can't_ really _hurt you."_

 _"Everyone gets nightmares?"_

Dad had nodded. _"That's right."_

 _"Even you, Daddy?"_

There had been a pause before he'd answered. _"Yes, even Daddy gets nightmares."_

Little me had sat up straight then and pronounced, _"I'm okay now, Daddy. Thank you."_

 _"You're welcome, sweetie,"_ Dad had said. He'd kissed my forehead goodnight and stood up to leave. I had lain back down, but just before Dad had left the room, I'd asked one more question.

 _"What are your nightmares about, Daddy?"_

 _"Maybe I'll tell you when you're a big girl. For now, you should get some sleep."_

Well now I was almost fifteen. I had faced off against horrible opponents. If that didn't make me a "big girl," I didn't know what did. Frankly, I was still very curious, and if there was ever a time when I was going to find out, tonight was my best chance. Plus, I really needed to find out what could possibly make my father lose so much sleep.

Dad was silent. I was afraid he wasn't going to say anything at all, but after a full minute of silence, he sighed. "I really shouldn't be telling you this. Your mother will have my hide." I leaned forward slightly in anticipation. "Elizabeth, do you remember the stories your mother and I told you about our adventures?"

"Of course I remember," I scoffed.

"Well, after your mother saved the Athena Parthenos, what happened next?"

"You and Mom fell into Tartarus," I responded. "And with the help of Bob, the good titan, and Damasen, the good giant, you closed the Doors of Death." A lightbulb lit up over my head, and I cursed myself silently for being so dense. Mom and Dad had never told Matt and me much about their time in Tartarus. They'd always glossed over that portion of the story in a single sentence: _We fell into Tartarus, but Bob, the good titan, and Damasen, the good giant, helped us get out_. Or something to that effect.

Only now that I'd faced down danger myself did I understand why they'd always been so vague about it. I couldn't even imagine how awful Tartarus must have been. The experience clearly haunted them. Even now, more than twenty-five years later, Dad, and maybe Mom, too, were waking up with nightmares about that place.

"I can tell by your face that you figured it out," Dad said quietly.

I nodded slowly. "I'm sorry I brought it up, Dad."

Dad smiled sadly at me. "Don't be. You're curious. You want knowledge. These are traits befitting a granddaughter of Athena."

"So what specifically was your dream about?" I asked.

Dad chuckled. "Nice try. But I'm not telling you _that_ story tonight."

I frowned. "Damn."

Dad laughed. "Well, we should probably both get back to bed. You've got school tomorrow, and I have to give a lecture about dolphin snouts at eight." The look in his eyes told me that he probably wasn't going to be getting back to sleep at all, but he at least wanted me to try.

We both stood up at the table and went upstairs together. When we reached my door, I stopped and hugged Dad. Dad took a second to hug me back. He kissed the top of my head. "Goodnight, Elizabeth," he said quietly. "Love you."

"Love you, too, Dad."

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 **AN: You made it to the end! Thank you a whole bunch! Remember, the third Elizabeth Jackson story, "Elizabeth Jackson and the Magician's Maze" will be premiering on February 2nd. I posted a short excerpt of its early stages on Christmas at the end of "The Missing Prophecy," so if you want to check that out head on over. Also, don't forget to vote in the poll on my profile! As always, guys, thank you so much for your support, and I'll see you soon.**


	2. Attack of the Killer Statues

**AN: Hey guys! So first things first, I want to say thank you for the support you've shown the first one-shot. I'm glad you guys enjoyed it so much!**

 **Next, it's time to announce the winner of the poll on my profile! But see, here's the thing. It was actually a tie between Augustus and Jocelyn! So I've decided to give you a one-shot for each of them. Today, you'll be getting the one about Augustus and next week I'll give you the Jocelyn one-shot. Thank you everyone who voted!**

 **Alright, let's go ahead and get this show on the road. Enjoy the story and DFTBA!**

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 **Summary: Augustus Grace had been having a normal day until Jake called him during third period. Jake had gotten himself into some kind of trouble, and he needed Augustus's help. Of course, Augustus wasn't expecting "help" to involve fighting a couple of killer stone lion statues.**

 **Spoilers: Up through the end of "The Missing Prophecy."**

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Augustus Grace and the Attack of the Killer Statues

Augustus's day was going fine until he got a phone call from his best friend. Before that, things had been going pretty well.

The cold February day had started normally enough. Augustus had gotten up a good hour and a half before he went to school. He hated waking up, but he always insisted on waking up early enough to look good for school. He was the grandson of Aphrodite, after all. After dressing and doing his hair, he'd gone downstairs and eaten breakfast with his brother and mother. His dad was still upstairs sleeping, having just returned from an archeology dig in Greece. After eating, Augustus pulled on his pea coat, earmuffs, and scarf, then departed for school. His mother dropped him off first, then took his brother Riley over to the Middle School. He texted his girlfriend Elizabeth "good morning" (she always got up later than him and really didn't like getting texted before she'd had a chance to fully wake up).

He walked into the school and found his locker. After stowing away his coat and backpack, he went to the cafeteria to hang out with his mortal friends before first period started. Fifteen minutes later, classes started, and Augustus went about his day as he normally would. He took notes, did his assignments, joked around with his mortal friends. Everything was fine.

Then Jake called.

Jake was Augustus's best friend, and the son of Hephaestus. Even though Jake was two years older than Augustus, the two had become firm friends during Augustus's first summer at camper. And just last summer they'd gone on a dangerous quest together with Augustus's now-girlfriend, Elizabeth.

Anyway, Augustus had left his third period class – Global Studies II – to go to the bathroom. On his way back, his phone went off. He checked the caller ID. "Call from Jake Anderson."

Augustus raised his eyebrows. Jake knew he was at school. Which meant that something was happening. And knowing his luck, it was probably something bad. Augustus answered the call. "Dude, what's up?"

"Sorry to call you during school," Jake panted. From the background noise, it sounded like he was in the City, and also like he was running. "I wouldn't call you if it wasn't important, but I need your help."

"What do you need?" Augustus asked, already planning his escape from the school building. Not that it would be hard. He'd just charmspeak his way out the front door. Although when the school's receptionist came to her senses and called his parents, he'd be in serious trouble. _One thing at a time_ , Augustus thought.

"Can you meet me in Central Park?" Jake asked. "That fountain with the angel statue on top?" Suddenly Jake cursed. There was a crashing sound in the background.

"What's wrong?" Augustus asked. "What's happening?"

The line went dead. Augustus slid his phone back into his pocket. He wasn't sure what to do but meet Jake where he'd said – and hope that his friend showed up in one piece.

* * *

The fountain Jake was referring to was the Bethesda Fountain, located towards the center of Central Park, right along Terrace Drive, one of the roads that cut through the park. The fountain was shut off because of the cold weather. At the top of the fountain, there was a statue of a winged angel. The fountain was supposed to be a reference to something from Christianity, but that's not what Augustus thought about when he saw it. Every time he'd passed by the fountain in the park recently, he stared at the angel statue and scowled, forcibly reminded of the terrifying Weeping Angels from _Doctor Who_ , which Elizabeth had made him start watching.

The area was deserted. Augustus supposed that it wasn't that odd. It was fifteen degrees and the middle of the morning on a Tuesday. Anyone not discouraged from visiting the Park by the frigid temperatures or piles of slush and snow was probably at work or at school.

So Augustus stood there, agitated, staring at the angel statue for fear it would move. He tapped his foot nervously, worried about his friend. He was also worried by the fact that he didn't have his sword on him. Even with the Mist helping out, Augustus really didn't like to push his luck by carrying around the four feet of celestial bronze wherever he went. So most days he left his sword at home. Most days it wasn't a problem, but then most days he didn't get phone calls from his demigod friend at ten A.M.

From behind him a voice called, "Gus!"

Augustus whirled around, too relieved to hear his friend's voice to really register the fact that Jake had just called him "Gus," a nickname that seemed to be spreading more and more daily. Augustus didn't mind that much, not anymore, but it was still weird.

Jake was a pretty intimidating guy. He was several inches taller than Augustus – which was saying something, because Augustus was quite tall. Jake was also quite a bit broader. His hands were huge and calloused from working in the forges at Camp Half-Blood. Jake's dark hair curled out from beneath his winter hat. His jacket was unzipped and he was panting, like he'd been running. Which, from the sounds of the brief phone call they'd had, he had been.

"Jake," Augustus said, relieved. "You had me worried, dude. What's going on? Why do you need my help?"

Before Jake could respond, movement flickered in the corner of Augustus's eye. He turned towards it. Two large things were atop the raised road that was Terrace Drive. They leaped down into the plaza in front of Bethesda fountain and moved towards Jake and Augustus, slinking on all four legs like top of the line predators. Which, Augustus realized, they were. Because they were lions. Stone lions. Augustus blinked. "Please tell me those aren't the stone lions from the main public library."

"Those are the stone lions from the main public library," Jake said grimly.

Augustus resisted the urge to glance behind him at the angel statue to make sure it hadn't moved. "And why _exactly_ are the lion statues from the library alive?"

The lions were moving closer, their back legs tensed, like they were getting ready to pounce. Their stone lips were drawn in a silent snarl.

"I don't know about alive," Jake said. "But they're automatons."

"Sometimes I want to strangle you," Augustus said.

The lions chose that moment to pounce. Jake and Augustus dove away. The lions flew past and landed in the fountain. They whirled around. One turned towards Jake, who pulled his sledgehammer from his belt. The other turned towards Augsutus. _Great, Jake has a weapon,_ Augustus thought. _But_ of course _I don't._

Augustus's lion leaped towards him. He leaped ten feet into the air, straight over the lion's head, and hung there, floating. The stone lion opened its mouth to roar at Augustus, though no sound came out. Augustus guessed that stone automatons weren't fitted with vocal chords. "Sucks to suck," Augustus yelled at his lion.

He turned in midair towards Jake, who'd just sent his own lion adversary sprawling by bashing it across the face with his hammer. The lion who'd targeted Augustus was now turning on Jake, too. Couldn't have that.

Augustus swooped towards his friend, touched down behind him, grabbed Jake under the armpits, then shot back into the air. Augustus grunted in pain. Jake was heavy, even with the wind helping him hold the son of Hephaestus's weight. He flew them north and touched down in the patch of woods not far from the fountain, panting. "I'm guessing we don't have much time before those lions catch up with us," Augustus said. "So explain – quickly – why the lions from the library are trying to kill you?"

"I was going through the notes of one of the old Hephaestus cabin Head Counselors, a guy called Jake Mason," Jake explained. Augustus smiled slightly. Jake was going through Jake's notes. "Anyway, he fought during the Titan War. When Kronos's army invaded Manhattan, the demigods were hopelessly outnumbered. Luckily, Annabeth Chase had found out that almost all the statues in the City were automatons, and could be used to help defend the City."

 _Oh great_ , Augustus thought. _The statues really can move. Guess I'm not sleeping tonight_.

"And I thought," Jake continued, "that since we're at war with Gaius, I'd find out if the automatons still worked, just in case we had to defend Manhattan again."

Gaius. The name caused a spike of white hot hatred to go through Augustus. The crazy son of Kronos had confronted them at the very end of their quest the previous summer, just when all of them thought they were finally safe. Gaius and his troops had attacked them. Gaius fought Elizabeth personally, and he'd cut off her arm. The sound of her scream had been the most terrible thing Augustus had ever heard. Almost without meaning to, Augustus had summoned a massive windstorm in his rage and driven off Gaius and his soldiers. Still, Augustus itched for a chance to meet Gaius again and punish him for what he'd done to Elizabeth.

"So let me guess," Augustus said, "the automatons don't work anymore."

"Well they activated just fine," Jake said. "But something must have gone haywire with them. I don't know if it was just these two or all of them in the City, but instead of following my orders like they were supposed to, the lions just began to attack me."

The sound of snapping branches caught their attention. The friends whirled around and found the two stone lions approaching them. "Looks like they caught up with us," Augustus said. "How do we beat them?"

"They're stone statues," Jake said dryly. "Not easily, and I can't make the deactivation command work. But maybe you can."

"What now?" Augustus asked. He kept his eyes trained on the two lions, who were moving towards them remarkably quickly, snapping twigs underfoot and ploughing through low hanging branches.

"Use your charmspeak," Jake said.

"I can't charmspeak stone!" Augustus protested.

"Maybe not," Jake said. "But they're not just stone, they're automatons. And if you use the right command sequence anyway, maybe it'd work."

The lions broke into a run. "Okay fine," Augustus said quickly. "What do I say?"

"Command sequence: Daedalus Twenty-Three," Jake rattled off. "Shut down."

Augustus concentrated and felt the familiar charmspeak powers flow through him. "Command sequence: Daedalus Twenty-Three. Shut down!"

It worked better than he'd thought it would. It didn't work. But it did make the lions hesitate for a second. Then they were back to running. Augustus thrust out his hands and used the winds to send the two lions flying. Immediately he got a stitch in his side. The heavier an object was, the more effort it took to move them with the winds.

"Time to retreat again," Augustus wheezed. He grabbed Jake under the armpits and they shot into the air. It didn't look like talking to the lions was going to get them to shut down, but the charmspeak _had_ affected them. He wondered…

He started flying back towards the Bethesda Fountain.

"Why are we going back this way?" Jake asked.

Augustus couldn't work up the energy to answer him. He didn't even have enough energy to give them a soft landed. When they touched down in the fountain's basin, they tumbled down. Augustus coughed. "Those lions," he panted, "were really heavy."

"Why are we back here?" Jake repeated.

"The charmspeak _did_ work on the lions, but not very well," Augustus said. "But see, I've noticed that, at least for me, charmspeak doesn't work as well on non-humanoids. Maybe because I'm not much of an animal person. But," he pointed up at the angel statue above them, "she's a humanoid. And she's made out of metal."

"Are you actually suggesting we activate _another_ statue?" Jake said. "That's the stupidest idea I've ever heard!"

"Well if you've got a better one, I'm all ears," Augustus said. "Because I'd really rather not activate this statue either." Partially because he was afraid it would actually turn into a Weeping Angel, but Jake didn't need to know that.

Jake sighed. "No, I don't."

At that moment, the lions found them again. They tensed to pounce. It was now or never. His voice surged with charmspeak as he yelled, "Angel statue! Command sequence: Daedalus Twenty-Three! Kill stone lions!"

For an awful moment, nothing happen. The lions pounced, and Augustus didn't have the energy to redirect them again. Jake hoisted his hammer. Augustus got ready to dive away.

Then, just before the lions hit them, a huge _thing_ dropped out of the sky on top of them. The lions toppled away. Standing protectively between the lions and Augustus and Jake was a bronze angel, rusted green. The lions were about the same size as the angel statue, and there were two of them, but they were confused.

The angel pummeled them with her fists, which left craters in the stone lions. Her wings spun and sliced at them, like a pair of blades. The lions didn't stand a chance. Augustus almost felt sorry for them. Almost.

A minute later, all that was left were two piles of rubble. The angel turned back to Augustus. Its head twitched sideways and sparks flew out of its ear. It was malfunctioning too. Somehow, Augustus knew he could only control it for a few more seconds before it went haywire like the lions. "Command sequence: Daedalus Twenty-Three. Shut down."

The angel spread its wings, flapped once, and flew to the top of the fountain's centerpiece, where it became still again.

Jake, meanwhile, was examining the piles of rubble formerly known as the public library lions. "Wonder how the mortals will explain the disappearance of these guys," he wondered.

Augustus shrugged. "I'll be curious to find out when the story hits the news."

Jake turned to Augustus and smiled. "Thanks for saving my ass, man. You did good."

"Yeah well, what are friends for?" Augustus replied. "Just do me a favor? Next time you decide to activate ancient automatons that probably don't work anymore, don't do that."

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 **AN: I hope you guys enjoyed that one! And I'll see you in a week for the Jocelyn one-shot!**


	3. May Twenty-Fourth

**AN: Hey guys! So I've received some really wonderful responses to these last two one-shots, and I'm really grateful for that! I obviously never expected everyone to read them, but those of you who have seem to have loved them, and I'm really happy about that! :)**

 **As promised, here is your one-shot for Jocelyn, who tied with Augustus in the poll on my profile. This one is a bit longer than the previous two, and is quite possibly the most important of the three for several reasons, but I'll let you discover those for yourself.**

 **On a side-note, even though Rick Riordan announced his Trials of Apollo series back in October, I've JUST NOW learned about it. On the one hand, I'm super excited, because I really enjoy reading his books (obviously), and I would love to travel back to the world of Camp Half-Blood in another official story. On the other hand, it certainly complicates my efforts to keep everything as in-line with the canon as possible. So no guarantees that my stories will line up with whatever canon Riordan establishes in his trials of Apollo series, but I will certainly continue to stick to his canon as much as possible.**

 **Okay, that's enough from me. I do hope you enjoy this one-shot. DFTBA!**

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 **Summary: Jocelyn Clement has a yearly tradition. Every year on May Twenty-Fourth she sneaks out of camp and makes a bit of a road trip. Unfortunately, this year her father and half-sister, Angelia, interfere with Jocelyn's important day. Can Jocelyn complete their assignment on time? And more importantly, will their interference ruin her important day?**

 **Spoilers: Up through the end of "The Missing Prophecy."**

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May Twenty-Fourth

On the morning of May twenty-fourth, Jocelyn's alarm went off at five A.M., just like it did every year on this day. Jocelyn shut off the alarm quickly, not wanting to disturb her siblings in the Hermes cabin. It wasn't that she was worried about getting caught and in trouble because a) they knew she did this every year (though not why) and b) since she'd become head counselor of the Hermes cabin two weeks ago, she didn't have to answer to anyone. At least not in the cabin.

No, Jocelyn didn't want to wake her siblings because the penalty for waking up the whole cabin early was that everyone got to prank the offender however they wanted for an entire week without retribution. And it didn't matter that she was the head counselor. If anything, that made it worse. She and her siblings had pulled some truly spectacular pranks on her predecessor, Peter.

Using the light of her cell phone, Jocelyn scribbled a brief note. _Sneaking off site. You know the drill. Pull any pranks while I'm gone and you all lose dessert privileges. See you guys this evening. Peace out homies._

She pulled her trusty brown leather duster over her camp t-shirt, carefully stowed her revolver loaded with Celestial bronze bullets within, then stealthily moved from the cabin.

She moved quickly across the commons, the low angle of the sunrise making her shadow appear giant. She took particular care to stay well away from the Apollo cabin. They always woke up right around sunrise, and she really didn't want to run into her friend Theo. That would lead to questions, and then she'd have to _explain_. Or lie. The idea of explaining made Jocelyn want to puke. She hadn't opened up to anyone about _it_ since it had happened more than five years ago, and she wasn't about to start opening up today. She had no desire to screw up her tradition.

Which meant she'd have to lie if she was caught. Normally lying wasn't a problem for her. She lied on a regular basis. But Theo was one of her best friends and lying to him wouldn't be fun or easy. At least she wouldn't have to worry about her other best friend, Elizabeth, who was still at home in New York. Lying to her would've been even more unpleasant and even more difficult. Elizabeth was better at reading people than Theo.

Luckily, Jocelyn made it to the peak of Half-Blood Hill without issue. She looked back over her shoulder at Camp Half-Blood, her home since she was ten. It really was beautiful, especially in the pink light of dawn. The Sound glittered. The canoe lake shone. The strawberry fields, the cabins, the Big House… all of it was pretty much perfect.

Jocelyn shook her head. She was not a sentimental or emotional person. At least not most days, but May twenty-fourth was a special day. _But I'm not there yet,_ she thought. _Quit being such an Aphrodite camper, Joce._

The guard dragon lifted his head sleepily and looked at her, smoke drifting lazily from his nostrils. Jocelyn patted his snout. "There, there Peleus," she said. "I'll be back before you can say 'where's she got to now?'"

Jocelyn didn't depart just yet, even though she knew she should. Her window of opportunity was closing. Satyrs would wake up soon and tend to the Strawberry Fields. Chiron would be leaving on his morning gallop in less than five minutes. The Apollo campers were surely only seconds away from leaving their cabin.

Still Jocelyn felt some trepidation. Well, more than she usually had before her annual trip, anyway. She had a bad feeling that _something_ was gonna go wrong today.

She shook her head. Things would be fine, she was sure. She turned and ran down Half-Blood Hill.

* * *

Jocelyn's first stop was to steal a car. When she'd first started the tradition, her very first summer at camp, she'd stolen money and bought a bus ticket. But this year she was going to drive. After all, she was fifteen now, and could pass for sixteen. And if she got pulled over, she had a fake ID courtesy of her half-brother Donny. Not that that would even be a problem. Jocelyn was an excellent driver, and had been since she was little.

Thinking about that made her think about her mom.

"Stop that," Jocelyn said quietly. "Emotional time is later. Game time is… now."

Sure enough, from her hiding spot behind some grapevines, the car pulled into the parking lot right on cue. The parking lot in question was around the back of one of the wineries near Camp Half-Blood. The car belonged to the winery's owner. Jocelyn wasn't sure what his real name was, but she'd taken to calling him Mario due to his bushy mustache and penchant for reading red.

Anyway, Jocelyn had been scouting out the winery for a while. Mario arrived every day around five-thirty and didn't leave until seven in the evening. That gave her nearly fourteen hours for her little trip. More than enough time. Four hour drive down, four hour drive back, which still left more than five hours. As long as the car was back before Mario had to leave (and Jocelyn refilled the gas tank and changed the odometer), no one would be any the wiser. You couldn't see the car from any of the winery's windows, and no one but Mario parked around in the back.

After making sure Mario was good and inside, Jocelyn dashed from her hiding place and over to his car. It was a very nice black BMW. She placed her hand next to the lock on the driver's side, sensing the mechanisms. Within seconds, she'd picked the lock. Once inside the car, she did the same thing with the ignition. She placed her hand next to it, using her Thief Sense (as she liked to call it). Once again, in seconds she'd gotten the car started. The radio came to life, playing the end of the song "Pompeii." After the song faded out, a voice informed her that she was listening to "99.9 The Nueve, playing the top hits from the twenty teens!" Jocelyn scowled and plugged in her phone. After putting on her preferred tunes – classic Rap – she reversed out of the parking space and drove away.

A mile out from the winery, Jocelyn glanced in the rearview mirror and smirked. So far, so good.

* * *

It was about ten when Jocelyn arrived in Baltimore, Maryland. She found one of the scant remaining parking spots near Patterson Park. She got out and filled the parking meter and took a deep breath. "Back south of the Mason Dixon line," she said, dropping the Northern accent she normally spoke with and allowing her natural accent to explore emotions other than fear, rage, sadness, or stress, when she couldn't help but speak in her original accent. Honestly, both accents felt equally natural to her now, but in Baltimore she always chose to speak in a Southern accent. "It's good to be home."

In truth, she'd spent most of her childhood farther south, but Baltimore had been the last place she and her mother had lived together. Speaking of which, he figured she should start making her way over to the Green Mount Cemetery. It wasn't particularly close to Patterson Park, but she'd purposefully parked so far away so that she could enjoy walking through downtown. Besides, it was closer than the bus terminal she normally departed from.

"But first," she said. "It's time to hit up Starbucks." Something was still bothering Jocelyn, but it had been hours and still nothing had come of her uneasiness. It _had_ to be nothing, right? Wrong.

* * *

The man arrived while Jocelyn was enjoying her muffin in peace at her small table by the window. "Mind if I sit here?" he asked.

Jocelyn looked up at him. He wore a postal worker's uniform. His hair was all dense curls with a salt and pepper color. His facial features were rather elfish, and his glinted like her siblings' eyes did, or even her own. "Suppose I don't have a choice," Jocelyn said, frowning.

The man sat down, unfazed by her coldness. "It's really a lovely day," he said. "This weather is truly magnificent. The bribe I gave Aeolus seems to be paying off."

Jocelyn rolled her eyes. What the man had just said may have seemed odd to most people, but Jocelyn knew what the man was talking about. After all, she knew who he was, even though they'd only met once, almost two years ago. "What do you want, Dad?"

"I can't pop in to check on my daughter?" Hermes asked.

"You've never checked in on me before," Jocelyn pointed out. "Why start now? And I'm guessing you're not here to join me at the cemetery. You've never joined me there, either."

Hermes's brow knit regretfully. "I wish I could be closer to you Jocelyn. I really do. But there –"

"Are rules," Jocelyn finished. "Dad, I get it. I'm not upset about it or anything. I've never asked for your company or your approval. I understand that there are rules." And the thing was, she meant it. She knew gods couldn't just go around chatting with mortals for no good reason, even when they were their children. _Especially_ when they were their children. But what annoyed Jocelyn was that Hermes had chosen _today_ to come talk to her. Any other day would have been fine, but she had a tradition that she didn't feel like disrupting.

"So don't kid me," Jocelyn went on. "You aren't just here to check in, because you and I both know that's against the rules. What do you want?"

Hermes opened his mouth to respond, but right then his cell phone rang. He answered it, mouthing "sorry" to Jocelyn. "Hebe, what is it? … If you needed it today you should have paid for express delivery…. No, it's too late now. If I changed my schedule to deliver your item today, then I'd have to delay someone else's shipment. You'll just have to wait." He hung up. "Sorry about that."

 _Hey, Jocelyn_ , said George the snake, curling around the edge of the phone case. _Did you bring me rats?_

 _George, that's enough,_ Martha, the snake intertwined with George, hissed. _The poor girl has enough on her mind today without worrying about rats. Hello, Jocelyn dear._

"Sup, Martha, George," Jocelyn replied. "Nice to see you. I'll try and remember to bring you rats for next time, George."

 _Thanks,_ he said. _No one ever feeds me enough rats. Oh, except that Percy Jackson. He fed me real good rats once._

"Enough," Hermes said. He smiled apologetically at Jocelyn. "I'm sorry, where were we?"

"You were going to tell me what you want from me," Jocelyn said flatly.

"Ah, right," Hermes said. "Well it's not so much what you can do for me, but what you can do for your sister."

Jocelyn raised her eyebrows. As a god, Hermes had had tons of children over the millennia, some mortal, some immortal. "Gee," Jocelyn said, "that's really specific and helpful. How about you tell me which sister and what you want me to do to help her."

Suddenly, the barista who'd made Jocelyn's coffee and handed over her muffin pulled up a chair and joined them. She was very pretty, with pale skin, wavy brown hair, and deep brown eyes. But nothing about her particularly stuck out to Jocelyn. She looked like any other college student trying to get through school by getting a shit job making coffee for people, most of whom were probably assholes. "Hello, sister," the barista said.

"You're a daughter of Hermes?" Jocelyn asked. "Your name is…" She squinted at the name tag, trying to make out the name, but it was difficult with her dyslexia.

"Angelia," she said, holding out a hand.

"Demigod?" Jocelyn asked, shaking.

Angelia shook her head. "Goddess."

"Angelia here helps me deliver messages," Hermes explained. "I need the help, because I'm expected to deliver so many. But there was a… problem."

"Someone stole my wings," Angelia said. "I had to take them off to go to the bathroom and when I came back out, they were gone."

"Three questions," Jocelyn said. "One, goddesses need to go to the bathroom?"

"Unfortunately."

"Two, what do you mean 'your wings?' Are they natural wings that you ripped off your back, or do they sprout from your shoes like Dad's?"

"My wings are attached to a harness that I wear," Angelia said. "They have beautiful white plumage and help me travel at incredible speed."

"Angelia is actually who the Christian angels are based on," Hermes put in.

"Last," Jocelyn said, "why did you just leave them sitting around? Weren't you worried that someone would steal them?"

"I disguised them with the Mist," Angelia huffed. "And they have extensive safety features. I'm not stupid. But someone managed to steal them anyway."

"Got any ideas who?" Jocelyn asked. "Or do I have to figure that one out on my own?"

"We don't know who stole it," Hermes said. "But we do where they went. Fort McHenry."

"Oh good," Jocelyn said. "All the way across town!"

"Take the car you stole," Hermes said dismissively. "But do be careful. I don't need to remind you that there's a war going on. It very well may be a supporter of the demititans, or even one of the demititans themselves. And you'll have an important role to play someday, so don't die."

 _That_ sent a shiver down Jocelyn's spine. An important role to play? What did that mean? Her friend Elizabeth was the one supposed to fight the demititans' leader – at least according to some big prophecy that no one seemed to know. Except maybe her father did. "Do you know the prophecy Gaius keeps going on about?" she blurted out.

Hermes frowned. "I can sense that you have a role to play in it, but no. I do not know the prophecy. The only god who might is Apollo, but he is staying silent. It's likely he fears Zeus's wrath. After the war with Gaea, Zeus laid a great deal of blame on Apollo and punished him severely." Jocelyn had heard Apollo had temporarily been made mortal. Funny that that was severe punishment for a god. "He probably fears that if this prophecy about your friend becomes public knowledge, Zeus will blame him for whatever misfortunes that occur because of it _again_ and punish him more."

"Father," Angelia prompted.

"Ah yes, sorry," Hermes said. "Got sidetracked. At any rate, we really need you to rescue the wings by one." It was eleven. That gave Jocelyn two hours. She didn't ask why they needed the wings by then. Probably for some big important delivery. What she really wanted to ask was about the "important role" she was supposed to play, which Gaius hadn't mentioned to Elizabeth either time the two had met. Was it possible that he didn't know? If so, that gave them an edge over the son of Kronos, who always seemed to be about twenty steps ahead. Not that it was much of an edge, as Hermes was either being vague on purpose or because he genuinely didn't know.

"So, get to Fort McHenry," Jocelyn said. "Find whoever stole your wings, Angelia, then get them back to you by one? Sound about right?"

Angelia nodded.

"And I don't suppose I can talk you into fetching them yourself?" Jocelyn said.

Angelia laughed. "You know that gods can't go on quests!"

Jocelyn sighed. "Right. Silly me. Where should I bring the wings then?"

"To the place you came here to visit," Hermes said. "We'll meet you there at one."

Before Jocelyn could protest that she didn't _want_ to visit the cemetery with her father and divine half-sister, that she really wanted to be there alone, the two gods vanished. Jocelyn cursed. "Well this will be fun."

* * *

Thanks to traffic, Jocelyn didn't make it to Fort McHenry until almost noon, which did not bode well for her one o' clock deadline. Strangely, the place was deserted, which also did not bode well. Fort McHenry was pretty famous; it was the place where the Star-Spangled Banner had been written, for starters. But no one was there. At the visitor's center, Jocelyn saw a sign on the door that said, "Closed for private party."

Oh boy, a party! It was about time someone crashed it. Namely, Jocelyn.

Jocelyn pressed her hand against the lock and a few seconds later she was in. She wandered around the visitor center and, after finding nothing (not even a single measly balloon), she journeyed into the fort proper. Like most eighteenth and nineteenth century forts, its outer lines of defense were walls of earth and stone. Cannons stood on the battlements. In the middle was the collection of buildings that the soldiers would have lived, worked, cooked, and whatever else soldiers did in the early nineteenth century in. Even when they lived in Baltimore, Jocelyn and her mother had never gotten around to visiting Fort McHenry. It was on their to do list, but her mother was always so busy it was hard to find the time.

 _Not yet_ , Jocelyn scolded herself. _You're not at the cemetery yet._

Finally, after inspecting the perimeter of the fort and finding no one, Jocelyn ventured into the fort's courtyard. She looked around at the old buildings as she made her way to the center of the courtyard.

Suddenly a high, reedy man's voice said, "Well, well, what do we have here?"

Jocelyn whirled around. Three figures had emerged from one of the buildings. Two of them were centaurs, but they were nothing like Chiron or even the Party Ponies that she'd met once when she was eleven (long story). These centaurs looked dangerous – and not just to anyone who tried to keep root beer from them. They scowled at her. They wore bronze breastplates on their human half. The fur of their horse halves was dirty. Bull horns poked out from their wild hair. Jocelyn particularly hated those horns. One of the two held a sword. The other had a bow in his hands and an axe strapped to his back.

In between them was the man who'd spoken to Jocelyn. Unfortunately, she knew him. His thick brown hair was cut in a wedge. His black eyes glittered with cruel intelligence. He was thin as a scarecrow. The last time Jocelyn had seen him, he'd been wearing fancy robes, but that had been two years ago. Apparently "evil demititan fashion" had changed in that time. Today he wore a navy blue sports coat over a white button shirt and matching pants.

"Jocelyn Clement," he said.

"Marcus," Jocelyn said coolly. "Long time since Mexico City."

"A long time indeed," he said. "How've you been?"

"Right, not in the mood for banter," Jocelyn snapped. "I've got stuff to do today, and I'd like to get this over with so that I can get on with it. I assume you stole Angelia's wings. I've been sent to get them back. Give them to me and I'll let you go. This is a one time offer. If I didn't have stuff to do, I would not be giving you this offer. On the other hand, I could just take you out now. As one of Gaius's top cronies, I assume taking you out would do wonders for the war effort."

"Oh, I have the wings," he said, hefting a suitcase from the back of one of the centaurs that Jocelyn hadn't noticed before. He seemed to have difficulty holding the bag.

"And what exactly does Gaius want with them?"

"Nothing," Marcus said simply. "I was just given orders to disrupt the gods however possible without directly engaging one. Angelia is one of Hermes's most valued helpers. Granted, it's a small disruption, but a disruption nonetheless. Besides, if I present these to my father, Prometheus, he may agree to help our cause."

So he was the son of Prometheus. Good information for Jocelyn to report back at camp.

"You don't sound too attached to them," Jocelyn noted. "Just give them to me. I don't see that you have a way out. Two evil centaurs? I can handle them pretty quickly." The centaurs growled angrily, but Jocelyn ignored them. "Then who will defend you? You're not a fighter."

"You are right, I am no fighter," Marcus said. "But I need not fight. Because…" his phone beeped on cue. Marcus smiled. "My ride is here. You two, distract her. Kill her if you can."

Marcus turned and walked away, practically dragging the suitcase with the wings behind him. The centaurs attacked.

* * *

Jocelyn wished she'd known the centaur's armor was bullet proof. She fired off most of her shots rapidly, but the bullets pinged harmlessly off their armor. "Well shit," she muttered. The centaur with the sword charged. The other fired away with his arrows. Jocelyn rolled to the left and fired her last bullet. The sword centaur was caught in his unprotected flank and he burst apart, his sword clattering to the ground.

Unfortunately, Jocelyn didn't have time to reload her revolver. She resolved to switch to something that was faster to reload, like something with a clip. The arrow centaur continued to fire away. Jocelyn rolled and ducked the arrows, but it wasn't doing her any good. Marcus, as slow as the wings were making him, was getting a pretty good head start. She needed to take out the other centaur, but how if she didn't have a weapon?

Her next roll brought her right next to the sword the other centaur had dropped when he'd dissolved. Jocelyn wasn't very good with swords, but a weapon was a weapon. She scooped up the blade and did something stupid. She charged the remaining centaur.

He continued to shoot arrows at her. Jocelyn hit the ground in an A+ baseball slide just in time to avoid one arrow, then shot to her feet and kept running. In a miracle, she managed to deflect the next arrow off the flat of her new blade. She was getting close, and the centaur knew it. His back half skittered nervously. He switched to his axe.

He brought the axe thundering down towards Jocelyn's head. She smacked the weapon aside with her sword, then jabbed at the centaur. He clip-clopped backwards, avoiding the sword point and brought his axe whistling around for another attack. Jocelyn ducked under the blade, then swiped upwards with her own. It cut a gash in the centaur's armor, but he was still fine.

The axe shot around again, and the centaur pushed forward, trying to gain an advantage. Unfortunately for the centaur, switching to offense had left him open. Jocelyn intercepted the next strike by catching the shaft in her left hand, then immediately lashed out with the sword. The strike caught the centaur in the neck, and he burst apart.

But Jocelyn didn't have time to admire her handiwork. If Marcus had gotten away that would be, you know, bad for her. She dropped the sword and sprinted from the fort. She sprinted through the gate, dashed through the visitor's center and into the parking lot.

Marcus was half way across. At the road, a black SUV waited. Marcus was moving slowly under the weight of the wings. Jocelyn wondered how they could help Angelia fly if they were really all that heavy.

She knew she could catch up with Marcus. Marcus glanced over his shoulder and saw her. He must've known she could catch him, too. He dropped the bag. Simultaneously, the doors of the SUV opened, and three heavily armored demititans jumped out, ready for a fight. "This is bad, this is bad," Jocelyn said frantically.

She dove for the bag containing Angelia's wings, hoisted it, and turned and ran for her own car. This time, she was the one being pursued. By three angry demititans, Marcus roaring at them from the relative safety of the SUV. It would probably be a comical sight from the outside. Jocelyn could almost imagine the song "Yakety Sax" (the funny chase music from all sorts of TV shows and movies) playing in the background.

Except the ending would not be funny. Because the demititans all had swords. And Jocelyn had nothing except a revolver with six empty chambers. And the heavy suitcase with the heavy wings was really slowing her down.

 _Oh!_ Jocelyn had a plan. She just hoped she got the timing right. When she thought the distance was right, she skidded to a stop, using the momentum to help her spin around, the heavy bag held aloft. The suitcase smashed into the faces of all three demititans, who were thrown to the ground in a daze.

"Well, what do you know, the ending _was_ funny," Jocelyn said. She dashed the remaining few feet to her car while the demititans were still dazed, tossed the suitcase with the wings into the back, then peeled out of the parking lot as fast as she could, flipping Marcus the bird as she went and roaring with laughter.

* * *

By the time she reached Green Mount Cemetery at twelve fifty-nine, she'd become much more serious. And rather annoyed at her immortal relatives. Hermes and Angelia were waiting right in front of the gravestone, a simple stone marker in the ground with a small plaque. Hermes was frowning down at it, as if he found the person's death mildly annoying. That annoyed Jocelyn even more.

She dropped the suitcase containing the wings at Angelia's feet with a huff. "Your stupid wings," she panted. "Why are they so godsdamned heavy?"

"Because I am not wearing them," Angelia said. "When I wear them, they are light as a feather… er, so to speak."

Jocelyn didn't chuckle at the pun. Angelia bent down and opened the bag. Inside was a harness attached to two folded white wings. Jocelyn didn't see what the big deal was. Then Angelia bent down, pulled out the wings, and strapped them on. Her barista outfit rippled, and suddenly she was wearing a flowing white dress. The wings expanded behind her, stretching out in a ten foot wingspan. Her entire body seemed to glow with a faint white light. The straps that made up the wings' harness disappeared. Jocelyn understood why the Christians had based angels on her, now. She'd been beautiful before, but now she was gorgeous. Angelic, even.

"Thank you, Jocelyn," Angelia said. "You have done me a great service. I shall not forget this. Now if you'll excuse me, I have messages to deliver."

Jocelyn closed her eyes as Angelia started glowing. Then she was gone, and Jocelyn was alone with Hermes. She approached the grave marker and looked down at the words. She wanted to be alone, but Hermes seemed to want to say something.

"I am truly sorry about your mother, Jocelyn," he said. "She was a truly wonderful woman. And unlike any woman I'd ever courted in all my centuries."

Jocelyn rolled her eyes. "Look, Dad, I appreciate that you're trying to be here for me right now. And I also understand why you're doing it. But all we've had is a distant relationship. This is… not something I want to share with you. It's not even something I want to share with my two closest friends. Not yet, anyway. You've never been with me when I've done this before. And I'd like to do it alone again."

Hermes looked at Jocelyn, his face etched with regret and sadness and… love? Jocelyn wasn't sure. That emotion didn't compute with her understanding of who the gods were and how they operated. "You're wrong, Jocelyn. I have been with you every time you've come here. A small piece of me has been with you in this cemetery every year since she died. Invisible, but here."

Jocelyn wasn't sure if she believed that, but she didn't say that. Instead, she said, "Can you do that instead, then? Please, let me have this moment."

Hermes sighed and placed a hand on her shoulder. Jocelyn wanted to shrug off the contact, but she resisted the urge. "Take care, my daughter." And then, in a flash, he was gone.

Finally, Jocelyn was alone. She looked down at the grave marker. The words read, "In loving memory of Madeline Clement."

Jocelyn sat down in front of the stone. "Hey Mom," she said quietly. "I would have brought you flowers, but Dad showed up and kind of ruined my day." Jocelyn had tears in her eyes now. "Anyway, things have been pretty crazy for me recently. The last year I've been involved in a war. I've gone on lots of missions for it recently. None with my friend, Elizabeth yet – you know, the one I told you about last year – but a few with my other friend Theo." Tears were falling freely down Jocelyn's cheeks now, but she kept her voice even. She knew that once she started sobbing, she wouldn't be able to finish telling her mom about her year. "I – I don't know if I'll make it through this war. Dad seems to think I've got some important role to play though. But I guess if I die I'll – I'll see you again a bit sooner than expected, so that's not all bad." Jocelyn choked. She couldn't keep it together much longer. She tried to think of anything else to tell her mom. Not that it mattered. She doubted that her mother's actual spirit could hear her all the way down in the Underworld. But she needed to try. And she needed a way to vent her emotions – emotions she usually kept bottled up. "Anyway, that's about it from me," Jocelyn said, deciding there was nothing else to say. "Happy birthday, Mom. I love you." And Jocelyn broke into full sobs.

* * *

 **AN: I hope I didn't destroy your feels too badly. But I also hope that I did just a little bit.**

 **On an unrelated note, as you may know, the next Elizabeth Jackson book comes out very soon - February 2nd to be precise. And because you're awesome and stuck around until the bottom, you get a treat. The Magician's Maze full summary. Here you go:**

Things have never been more difficult for Elizabeth. War has truly broken out between the camps and Gaius's army, yet trivial squabbles seem to plague the demigods' war effort. The demititans themselves continue to be elusive, most often using monsters to carry out their dirty work. Meanwhile, Elizabeth has to deal with personal issues, too, such as an increase in the arguing between herself and her boyfriend and handling the panic attacks she's started getting since the end of last summer. In the midst of all of this, Nico di Angelo arrives and delivers Elizabeth some news. Gaius is heading into the New Labyrinth, the maze that Pasiphae created in Epirus, the House of Hades. It has spread out under the world, and Pasiphae is still alive deep within the maze. Nico believes that Gaius may be seeking the sorceress's help with a mysterious and unknown piece of magic. He wants Elizabeth to go into the Labyrinth and take out Pasiphae before Gaius can get to her. If she succeeds, it could give the demigods an important edge in the war against Gaius. But can Elizabeth succeed with her sanity and, more importantly, her life intact, especially since the Oracle's prophecy seems to predict she'll fail?

 **Woo! I hope that gets you excited for the next book! I am REALLY looking forward to sharing it with you guys. Taking this extra time between books has been super helpful, but it's also left me raring to share the next Elizabeth Jackson story with you.**

 **Alright, that's it for me. It's late here, and I'm just about ready to hit the hay. Don't forget to be awesome, everyone, and I'll see you on February 2nd.**


	4. Character Sheet

**AN: Hey guys! So I'm here with the first post to this one-shot collection for the break between books 3 and 4 of Elizabeth Jackson. This one is a character sheet giving you info about what each of the major characters from the original series did between BOO and the first Elizabeth Jackson book. Because stuff from my stories conflicts with the canon established in the new Trials of Apollo series (I thoroughly enjoyed the first book, but it did screw with my attempts to maintain continuity) I will only be maintaining continuity up through BOO. So if you see something here that conflicts with what happened in Hidden Oracle, I know, and that's intentional.**

 **Real quick, I'm going to respond to a couple of reviews from EllaAnnieGrace: "** **So what does Jason do for a living? Is he an Archeologist?"  
** **A: You're about to find out**

 **"Y** **ou are late w/ the character chart. Why? If your awnser is just "personal problems" I'll be fine w/ that."  
A: Well, at least where I live, it's currently May 10th, which is when I _think_ I promised to have this up. If I said May 9th, I apologize for the mixup.**

 **Alright that's enough for now. DFTBA!**

* * *

 **Summary: A description of the general things that happened with each of the major characters from the original series between BOO and Elizabeth Jackson and the Stolen Goddess. I left out characters whose lives between each time should be pretty self-explanatory, like Grover who just remained a Lord of the Wild.**

 **Spoilers: No Elizabeth Jackson spoilers, but perhaps some minor PJO and HOO spoilers.**

* * *

Percy Jackson: After successfully graduating high school, Percy moved to New Rome for college with Annabeth. During their senior year of college, Percy proposed to Annabeth. After completing his bachelor's degree in Marine Biology, he and Annabeth moved back to New York City, where Annabeth got her first architectural contract. A few days after moving back to the City, Percy and Annabeth got married. While Annabeth pursued her architectural career, Percy enrolled in NYU's Marine Biology Master's/PhD combined program, which he was able to get into due to his high grades in undergrad. When Percy was 27 and in his last year of his PhD program, Elizabeth was born. Roughly one year later, Matt was born. After completing his PhD, he was immediately hired by the Biology department. Aside from teaching classes, he will also occasionally go on research expeditions with some of his colleagues and students. While Percy is well-respected within the field, he's no household name amongst most people. Within the demigod community, Percy and the rest of the Seven have become insanely famous. Percy, in particular, has been compared to Hercules, a comparison that Percy doesn't particularly enjoy.

Annabeth Chase: After completing high school as Valedictorian, Annabeth and Percy moved to New Rome where they went to college. Annabeth double majored in Architecture and Math with a minor in Business. In their senior year, Annabeth and Percy got engaged. Shortly before graduating, the New York City Council chose Annabeth's design for a new subway station in Manhattan. As a result, Annabeth and Percy moved back to New York so that Annabeth could oversee the project. While Percy continued schooling, Annabeth got to work on making her dream a reality. After completing her first project, she started up her own architectural firm with help from her half-brother Malcolm and Piper. She also brought in Leo to help her make monster-proof buildings. Within a few years, her firm, Olympic Architecture, had risen to be the premiere firm in the City, overseeing multiple public and private contracts. The success of her firm made her and Percy fairly wealthy. When she and Percy were 27, they had their first child, Elizabeth, and one year later had their second, a son they named Matt. While her name is slightly more well-known than Percy's among the general populace, she is incredibly famous among demigods, just like the rest of the Seven.

Jason Grace: Jason and Piper joined Percy and Annabeth at New Rome University one year after they started there. Jason continued his work as Pontifex, and his college major grew out of it. Jason majored as a classicist (someone who studies Greece and Rome) with a particular emphasis on their religion. After finishing his bachelor's degree, Jason got an offer for a Master's/PhD combined program in the original Rome. While it was a tough decision, Jason ultimately moved to Rome for the six years necessary to complete his PhD. Piper stayed back in the US. The two maintained their relationship during Jason's absence, and visited each other as often as possible. One such visit was around Jason's 26th birthday. On this particular occasion, they hadn't seen each other for months. As a result of this visit, Sierra and Augustus were born just slightly before Elizabeth. After Jason finished his degree, he moved back to New York immediately, and he and Piper _finally_ got married (they'd decided to wait until after he moved back home). On Percy's recommendation, Jason applied for a position as a professor of classical studies at NYU, and he got the job. Occasionally, Jason would go on archaeological digs with Hazel to learn more about Greco-Roman religion. When Jason and Piper were twenty-eight, their third child, Riley was born. Jason eventually became well-known among classicists, but as with the others, his primary fame was within the demigod community.

Piper McLean: When Jason and Piper moved to New Rome, Piper wasn't sure what she wanted to major in. Eventually, she decided to major in communications. After she and Jason finished their bachelor's degrees, they were faced with a tough decision. Jason had the opportunity to go to Rome to continue his education. Meanwhile, Annabeth had asked Piper for her help in starting up an architectural firm. As much as Piper wanted to stay in the same place as Jason, she didn't want to move to Rome or wait for her and Jason to get back to from Rome to join Annabeth's company. After a very tough decision, Jason went to Rome and Piper moved to New York to join Annabeth's firm. The two stayed in a relationship, and they made the long distance thing work, but they decided to wait to get married until Jason got back to the US. Meanwhile, Piper helped Annabeth's firm get its first couple of contracts and thanks to her help, Olympic Architecture shot up. During one of Jason's visits, around his twenty-sixth birthday, they ended up accidentally conceiving Augustus and Sierra. Jason didn't get back to New York permanently for another couple years. He and Piper got married almost immediately and very shortly after, when they were both twenty-eight, Riley was born. Even though Piper was head of PR at a huge architectural firm, she managed to stay out of the limelight as she'd wanted, except, of course, in the demigod community where she was incredibly famous.

Leo Valdez: After taking the Physician's Cure, he became very nearly unkillable. Although he doesn't like to push it too close to the limits, it isn't clear if Leo even can die. After going on a world tour with Calypso, the two of them settled in Texas where they opened the shop that Leo had first pitched back on Ogygia. On the mortal side, it's just a really great repair shop, but Leo's main work is as an inventor of demigod friendly products, specifically electronics. His first demigod friendly phone came out shortly before Jason left for Rome. He also ended up doing some contract work with Annabeth's architectural firm to make monster-proof apartments and buildings. Leo and Calypso continued to travel. They got married two years after Percy and Annabeth. They never had any children, which is fine with them, since it gives them more time for travel, their "nieces" and "nephews," and for each other. Plus, in the words of Leo, "Festus is the only child we'll ever need!" Leo's repair shop, while excellent, is not well-known enough to gain him any notability in the mortal world, but as both a member of the Seven and an inventor of products that basically all demigods use, he is quite famous among other demigods.

Calypso: She retained her powers after leaving Ogygia, though as of Elizabeth Jackson and the Magician's Maze, it is still unclear whether or not she kept her immortality. After traveling the world with Leo, the two of them settled in Texas where they run a shop together. Calypso grows and sells flowers and runs the snack bar in the joint, which their customers appreciate a lot. While Leo is repairing their car, they can enjoy good food and flowers with Calypso. Leo and Calypso never had children, which Calypso is fine with. After all, with gods and Titans, children can be tricky. Besides which, neither Leo or Calypso know what their child would be like, what with Calypso being a Titan and Leo being essentially immortal but still a demigod. Calypso does love her "nieces" and "nephews," especially the youngest, Hannah Zhang.

Frank Zhang: Frank's time as Praetor was one of prosperity for the Legion. He and Reyna proved to be a great team. After Reyna retired from the Legion, Hazel was elected Praetor, and the two of them proved to be an even better team than Reyna and Frank. When Hazel and Frank had served their full ten years in the Legion, Frank was twenty-five and Hazel twenty-three. They retired from the Legion and got married. Then they went to college in New Rome. Frank studied military history. When they were juniors in college, they had their first daughter, who they named Emily in honor of Frank's mother. A year later, when they were seniors, they had their second daughter, Hannah. When he graduated, Frank went became a civilian consultant for the U.S. Military. He also became a correspondent for several major news providers, giving expert analysis on what was going on, militarily, throughout the world. Frank and Hazel settled in San Francisco to raise their family. Frank is more well-known amongst regular mortals than any of the other Seven, simply because of his presence on television. However, like the others, he's even more famous amongst the demigod community.

Hazel Levesque: Thanks to Hazel's great leadership as centurion, the Fifth Cohort became the Twelfth Legion's premiere Cohort, outshining even the First. After Reyna retired from the Legion, Hazel stepped up to fill her position as Praetor. When Hazel and Frank finished with their time in the Legion, they retired, got married, and started college. Hazel studied archaeology. She excelled in classes. When she and Frank were juniors they had their first daughter, Emily, and a year later had their second daughter, Hannah. Even though raising kids and continuing to do well in school was a challenge, both Hazel and Frank graduated with honors. They moved to San Francisco. Hazel went on to become a world-class archaeologist, participating in some of the best archaeological digs of the last century. She eventually earned her PhD in archaeology and went on to become a professor of archaeology at UC Berkeley. She leads expeditions to dig for new relics. Oftentimes, she takes students with her on these trips. Jason tags along a lot, too, since many of Hazel's digs are throughout the former Roman Empire, and any discoveries related to Greco-Roman religion are pertinent to Jason's field. Occasionally, the two of them end up in Indiana Jones-esque exploits, mostly thanks to the fact that their demigod blood ends up attracting monsters and gods while they're on these trips. Hazel is extremely respected in the archaeological field. But just like all the others, she is better known amongst demigods, seeing as she's one of the Seven.

Reyna Ramirez-Arellano: After the giant war ended, Reyna and Frank helped the Legion become even more powerful than it had been before. A couple of years after the war, Reyna went on a quest with Nico di Angelo. While on the quest, they met Adrian Sanchez, a mortal boy who could see through the Mist and even see the future a little bit. Adrian came with them back to Camp Jupiter, where he helped interpret the will of the gods. Reyna and Adrian fell in love during this time. Eventually, Reyna retired from the Legion, which left her with something of an identity crisis. Her whole identity had been tied up in the Legion, and she didn't know what to do now that she'd finished her time with them. First she tried to go to college at New Rome University, but she decided that college wasn't really for her. Then she got involved with professional fighting. Within a few short months, she'd become the world champion of women's UFC. Reyna and Adrian got married when they were twenty-five, three years after Reyna retired from the Legion. When they got married, they both took the hyphenated last name Arellano-Sanchez. They moved to San Francisco. Reyna continued to fight in the UFC for a few years. Meanwhile, Adrian became a novelist. Reyna retired from the UFC when she became pregnant. She had a daughter very shortly after her twenty-eighth birthday, who she and Adrian named Amalia – or Amy as everyone calls her. Although she could have returned to UFC after Amy was born, Reyna decided to permanently end her career in the UFC. Instead, she became a sports journalist in San Francisco. She and Adrian remained close with all of the Seven, particularly Hazel and Frank, since they live close by. Reyna also stayed Nico's best friend. Reyna's career in the UFC made her very famous amongst regular mortals, rivaling her fame amongst demigods.

Nico di Angelo: Nico stayed at Camp Half-Blood for a long time. He also visited Camp Jupiter on a regular basis to spend time with his sister and his best friend, Reyna. While Percy and Annabeth were in college in New Rome, Nico would meet up with Annabeth once a week for a game of chess, a game which both of them were quite good at. Annabeth usually won, but Nico could occasionally beat her. Nico and Will continued to date. Eventually, Will left Camp Half-Blood and moved off to college and then med-school. Nico had no desire to go to college, but he did spend quite a few nights a week in Will's dorm room. Meanwhile, Nico became one of his father's top lieutenants – if Thanatos was Hades's right hand man, Nico was his left. Nico's job involved a lot of traveling, and at one point he met Walt Stone and found out that the Egyptian gods were real, too. Since then, he has taken it upon himself to make sure that the divides between Greco-Roman gods and Egyptian gods stayed intact. All this kept him pretty busy. Meanwhile, after Will finished med school, he opened his own practice a few hours Upstate from New York City. Will and Nico got married and lived in a house in the country. Nico remained close with the Seven and Reyna and all of their children. Nico never really integrated with the mortal world, but he remained nearly as famous as the Seven in the demigod world.

Rachel Elizabeth Dare: Rachel continued to have an active role in both camps even before she got the power of prophecy back. After she did, she continued to dish out prophecies. After she finished high school at Clarion Ladies Academy, she moved to Camp Half-Blood full-time. She also started her art career around that time. She and her father got into a massive fight about her choice to become an artist and eventually Rachel cut him out of her life entirely. After Rachel's art took off and Rachel gained both fame and fortune for her art, her father tried to reconcile with her, but Rachel saw right through that and refused. She remained Oracle for a long time while her art took off in the mortal world. Eventually, when Rachel was in her mid-thirties, she was offered a job as the curator of the Art Institute of Chicago. Rachel really wanted the job, but she couldn't leave Camp Half-Blood without an Oracle. Luckily, they found a perfect candidate for the role, a girl named Gwendolyn, and Rachel stepped down as the Oracle. She moved to Chicago and took up her job as curator of a major art museum. Rachel never married or had any children, but that was always okay with her. She had several great mortal friends, and she had a new family amongst her demigod friends.

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 **AN: I hope you guys enjoyed that! If there are any other characters you'd like me to do one of these for, let me know, and maybe I'll do another character sheet in the future.**

 **Also, remember to vote in my new poll to help determine who will get an Elizabeth Jackson one-shot.**


	5. Book 3 Deleted Scene

**AN: Hey guys! I'm here with the deleted scene from the last chapter of Elizabeth Jackson and the Magician's Maze. But first, I'll respond to some reviews!**

 **A few from cghe: "** **So as far as I know, I don't think that you mentioned Elizabeth's birthdate. What is it? I can piece some clues together (she was 13 before the end of the school year?) but it would be nice to have a general date."  
A: I actually mention it in passing in the first book, but I'm not surprised you didn't register it, since it was so quick. Elizabeth's birthday is April 19th.**

 **Another: "Also, I think that while marine biology isn't a particularly tough course, it seems a bit strange to presume that Percy, a dyslexic and ADHD and a avg c/d student (I forget which) could manage a Phd in 6 years. I would imagine, he might not even get a Phd at all, or it would take him like maybe 8-10 years."  
A: I actually thought about this one a lot, but I think that it's totally feasible that Percy could have done that. The issue with school for Percy was, in part, he didn't particularly care about it, and his frustrations with dyslexia only made that worse (at least, it seems that way to me when I read the books). But when he's doing something he cares about and that he enjoys, he'd be willing to work around his dyslexia. I'm not saying it was easy, but I definitely think it would have been possible so long as Percy was willing to put in the hard work, and I think for this particular field, he would have been.**

 **Again, from cghe: "Also, what kind of architectural firm does Annabeth own? Because a 4 floor flat in New York/Manhattan (I forget where you mentioned they lived) could cost ~10 million dollars or so, so Annabeth must be quite rich. But unlike in many fanfics where Annabeth is like a multikajillionaire, architectural firms don't make that much money. Maybe she got some "gifts" from the Olympian Council."  
A: Yeah, they live in Manhattan. So, there's a combination of reasons for Annabeth's apparent wealth. 1) Yeah, I imagine she got some nice perks from Olympus for redesigning it. 2) Her Architecture firm is incredibly successful. They design just about every type of building, including governmental and corporation contracts, which bring in a lot of money. And as a CEO, her salary would be quite large. And 3) CEO perks aren't limited to just a buttload of money, but also often come with benefits. Her company not only built the building in which they live, but is also the majority stockholder for the building. One of the perks that Annabeth's board of directors gave her was housing. SO she needn't make enough to pay for the apartment herself, since she gets it as a perk for her job.**

 **One last one from cghe: "I totally want a back story on Adrian :)"  
A: Maybe I'll write one someday :)**

 **And lastly from Person: "Where did you first get the idea for the series? I know it is a popular trend to do the next generation, but where did you get the idea of Gauis, demititans, the background story, her personality, her friends, and even the plot itself? Elizabeth...Matt...where?"  
A: Well, for starters, I didn't get the idea all at once. Different bits and pieces of the idea came together over time. My initial thoughts about doing a series about Percy and Annabeth's daughter occurred about a year before I first started posting these stories. But I didn't want to do anything with the idea if I didn't have a story to tell. Yet, I liked the idea so much that I started trying to come up with a story. I'm not entirely sure where the idea for the demititans first came from. I think I just considered that gods probably weren't the only ones who had mortal children. And the Titans' kids seemed like a good set of opponents for Elizabeth. But I wanted to make the main antagonist to be a son of Kronos, which was obviously somewhat problematic. But as I started to figure out how I could make it work, I developed Gaius's backstory, and I really got involved with figuring out his goals and motives. So the plot sprouted from him as a character. As for the other characters, a lot of them combine elements of different people I know irl. Neither Theo or Jocelyn is based around any one person in particular, I combined traits from a lot of different people I know. The rest of the main characters are more strongly based around individuals in my life, but obviously changed quite a bit just by the merit that they're demigods.**

 **Wow, I kind of went a little overboard with my answers, haha. Anyway, here's the deleted scene. Enjoy, and DFTBA!**

* * *

 **Summary: Deleted scene from the final chapter of Elizabeth Jackson and the Magician's Maze. It takes place right after the scene in the amphitheater.**

 **Spoilers: Everything up through book 3 of Elizabeth Jackson.**

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Elizabeth Jackson and the Magician's Maze

Chapter 22: We Burn a Shroud

Deleted Scene

I strode away from the amphitheater. I wasn't sure where I was going, but I needed to get away from there. I was already feeling guilty for walking out on Aunt Piper and Uncle Leo like that. They hadn't done anything wrong. They'd only been worried about me. But I wasn't lying when I'd said I needed space. For some reason, I just couldn't handle being around people right now. My feelings of guilt and anger and sadness suddenly sharpened. _You should've done more_ , part of my brain said. _You could've saved her if you were stronger, or faster, or better…_

I couldn't even argue with my own logic. I could've saved Thalia. After all, it was my fault she'd died. Drake had been trying to kill me, not her. If I'd been better, I wouldn't have been put in a position where either I would die or someone would die for me. Or if I wasn't so godsdamned determined to stop Gaius and his crew, if I'd just cut my losses, I never would have fought Drake, and then Thalia never would have died. But I just hadn't been able to let it go…

I was in the central green now. I had the vague notion in my head that maybe I'd go back to my cabin and just hide in there for a while. After all, not only would I have to see more people if I did anything _but_ hide in my cabin, but there was also the chance I could run into Augustus while I was out and about, and that wasn't an idea I relished. I felt really crummy about what had happened. I really hadn't been planning on breaking up with him today. After all, the guy had just lost his aunt. I'd wanted to wait a week or two, at the very least, and I'd wanted to break up with him on my terms. I'd wanted to have the chance to explain to him why, explain everything I'd been thinking about, and explain the realization I'd come to: I needed to take care of my own issues before I could be with someone happily. But I'd lost the ability to do it on my own terms when he'd forced my hand. I cursed under my breath. Why did Gus have to be so stubborn about it?

I was so lost in my own thoughts that I didn't hear my name being called until I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned. Nico stood next to me, looking grim. There were deep purple bags under his eyes like he hadn't been sleeping. He cleared his throat awkwardly. "I uh… said your name a few times."

"Oh," I said as if coming out of a trance. I shook myself slightly. "Sorry about that. I was… lost in thought, I guess."

Nico nodded. "Understandable. How are you?"

I shrugged the question off by asking one of my own, "How are _you_? You look like you haven't slept in a month."

"I wasn't sleeping much while your team was in the Labyrinth," Nico said. "I was worried. Not to mention I've been travelling a lot recently. Shadow travel, I mean. I've gotten a lot better at conserving my energy when I do it, but it still takes a toll on me, especially when I've been doing it a lot."

"What've you been travelling so much to do?" I asked.

A shadow seemed to pass over Nico's face. "I can't tell you," he said. "Trust me on that one," he added before I could say anything. "It doesn't have anything to do with the war with the demititans. But it does add up. Trying to help with this… situation and with the demititan war is difficult, not to mention exhausting." Normally I would've been incredibly irritated being kept in the dark like this, but I couldn't muster the energy to be annoyed right then. "Anyway, I'm not here about me," Nico continued. "How are you?"

"How do you think?" I snapped, losing my patience with the question I'd been getting asked for so long. "The last year of my life has just been one shit show after another! It wasn't enough that I had to lose an arm. It wasn't enough that I had to develop panic and anxiety and probably depression, too. No, Thalia had to die because I wasn't strong enough to save her."

Nico looked down. "Thalia's death isn't your fault. She doesn't blame you."

The temperature seemed to drop about ten degrees. "You mean… you…?"

"Yeah, I spoke with her spirit," Nico said. He looked up at me. "She doesn't blame you at all, Elizabeth. She's at peace with what happened."

I knew that Nico communed with the dead quite often, but it was weird to hear him talk about talking to Thalia. She'd died so recently… but it didn't change anything. "Even if she doesn't blame me, it's still my fault," I said stubbornly.

Nico sighed. He stood silently for a moment before saying, "Elizabeth, come this way. There's someone I think you should meet." He moved past me and started striding towards the center of the central green. I followed him, confused by the sudden change.

He came to a stop next to the central hearth. Sitting by the flames, poking them with a stick, was a young girl in a plain brown dress. Nico was wrong. I did actually know her. I kneeled before her. "Lady Hestia," I said, respectfully.

Hestia looked me over with her flaming eyes. Instantly, I felt a bubble of warmth expand in my chest. I saw images of home and of camp: Mom and Dad and I going to a musical a few months ago; Dad and I having a late night chat about our bad dreams; sitting at the campfire next to Jocelyn, laughing at something Theo had done; Jocelyn's voice coming through loud and clear when I was panicking. My shoulders relaxed, though for some reason, my heart was beating a little faster than usual.

"Elizabeth," Hestia said, "it is good to see you again."

"Lady Hestia, you two have met?" Nico asked.

"Right after my first quest," I said quietly.

"Indeed," Hestia said. "And do you remember what I said to you then?"

I thought back. It had been two years ago, and so much had happened since then that it felt a lot longer. Still, I could remember my conversation with Hestia pretty well. "You told me that I would have an important role to play."

"And you will continue to do so," Hestia said. "But that's not the part I was talking about."

"You said that I'd return to Olympus one day," I said. "And that I… that I needed to accept my fear if I was ever going to overcome it."

"The day you return to Olympus is approaching," Hestia said. "I do not know exactly what is in store for you, but I do know that there is less time between now and when you return to Olympus than there is between now and the last time we met."

"Oh that's freaking fantastic," I muttered. I winced slightly as soon as the words left my mouth. "I'm sorry, Lady Hestia."

Hestia shook her head. "You need not apologize. Just remember, Elizabeth Jackson, what I said about accepting your fear. You have been attempting to deny it for too long. If you do not accept it, it will be your downfall."

I glanced down. I understood what she was saying, but I didn't like it. Still, I knew Hestia was right. The panic attacks I'd been getting were dangerous. The only way I could hope to move past them was to accept the fact that I wasn't okay. But that wasn't going to be easy. I looked back up. "I'll try, Lady Hestia," I managed.

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 **AN: I know it's not much, but there's the deleted scene. On another note, you should expect to see the Theo one-shot sometime next week, so look forward to that! See you guys then!**


	6. Premonitions

**AN: Hey guys! I am back with the Theo one-shot, as promised. But before we get into that, it's time to respond to some reviews!**

 **First, from leaderp: "** **NERDFIGHTERIA!"  
A: Hello fellow Nerdfighter! DFTBA!**

 **Next, from AnamariaJovel: "I was high key hoping you'd give away something from Book 4, in the deleted scene (hence why you may have deleted it), but alas, I guess not. Unless I missed something?"  
A: There wasn't any huge foreshadowing for book 4. Maybe a _very_ minor hint that wasn't in the finished product, but nothing huge. It's part of the reason I cut the scene.**

 **Another from AnamariaJovel: "Question (not sure if I've asked this before) : in Book 4 will we actually see Elizabeth talking to Frank/Hazel? There have been mentions, but I'd love to see Elizabeth's interaction with them, since we already know how close the Graces' are to the Jacksons. And of course, we've met Emily, sooooo? Will we formally "meet" Hazel and Frank?"  
A: Yes. That's all I'll say about that one.**

 **From George Oswald Dannyson: "Is the situation Nico mentioned is something on the egyptian side?"  
A: Yes.**

 **Another from George Oswald Dannyson: "And why did you decide to not keep this scene?"  
A: A couple of reasons. The main one is that while it is a very nice scene, a lot of what I accomplish in it I do elsewhere, and I didn't want to be too redundant. That, combined with the fact that the last chapter was already quite long without the scene, was why I cut it. Plus, the thread about Nico interacting with the Egyptian side that's been running through the series, while interesting, won't ultimately be important for the demititan war, and I didn't want to distract from what Elizabeth was going through in the aftermath of the funeral.**

 **From cghe: "what was Nico doing? Turned spy for the Titan camp?"  
A: No, he was doing stuff with Walt Stone on the Egyptian side of things.**

 **Another from cghe: "One small thing about Elizabeth's birthday: Since Percy was born on August 18, 1993 (I don't know where it says that, but that's what google says)27 years equals August 18, 2020. That menas that Elizabeth has to be born on April 19, 2021 (Percy would be 27 by then). In your one-shot about the nun attack w/ Sierra and Elizabeth, you state that they were "trying to enjoy the first nice Saturday in April" and "3 days before my birthday" which is April 16th, Saturday. However, there is one mistake. That day must have been April 16th, 2034, since that would be the time 3 days before her birthday. However, Saturday, April 16th 2034 doesn't exist. Saturday, April 16th 2033 does, but Elizabeth would only be 11 by then."  
A: Haha, my goodness. Well good job working all of that out! Sorry about that mistake on my part. Feel free to just pretend like I said the appropriate number of days between that nearest Saturday and Elizabeth's 13th birthday.**

 **And lastly, from EllaAnnieGrace: "I'm Guessing that Elizabeth will go to Olympus in 'the Veil's destruction', and I can't wait for everything you will put out in the near futre."  
A: You'll have to wait and find out.**

 **Alright, that's all the review responses I have for you guys. Enjoy this one-shot, and DFTBA!**

* * *

 **Summary: After pulling a prank, Theo and Jocelyn are forced to clean the Big House's attic. Yet, something about the attic sets Theo on edge. The cleaning doesn't go entirely according to plan, and Theo sees something that really spooks him.**

 **Spoilers: General spoilers for the Elizabeth Jackson series, though nothing too specific.**

* * *

Premonitions

From the moment he saw the Big House attic for the first time, Theo felt uncomfortable. The whole room was stuffy and jam packed with all sorts of weird odds and ends. There were jars with pickled monster heads. Hanging on a nearby wall was a stuffed Hydra head. Next to that, strangely, there was a pair of fuzzy dice. Dented shields and busted sword lay in stacks and piles next to the crowded tables. The table immediately to Theo's right had a pair of swords bent into "M" shapes, a pink scarf heavy with perfume lying next to them. But it wasn't the cramped, musty nature of the attic that was making Theo uncomfortable. No, there was something else about the place that he couldn't quite put his finger on. He rubbed his buzzed hair nervously.

Before he could pin down exactly what was making him uneasy, Jocelyn was at the top of the stairs. Her shoulder length caramel hair was tucked into a baseball cap today. A Red Sox one to be exact, their friend Elizabeth's team. Theo vaguely wondered if Jocelyn had stolen it from her last time she went to the City. "Oh joy!" Jocelyn said. "I'm _so_ glad we get to clean this whole place today!"

Theo sighed. "This is gonna take _forever_."

At those words, Gwendolyn, Camp Half-Blood's Oracle, joined them. Her orange camp shirt had all sorts of writing on it – prophecies she'd told over the years. Her black leggings had a few purposeful tears in them, as did her jean shorts. Her converse high tops were painted like the cover of a Harry Potter book. Her short hair was a deep purple. "You should've thought about how long this was going to take _before_ you guys stole Seymour."

Theo winced, remembering how Jocelyn had talked him into it. _"Come on, Theo, it'll be funny. Besides, you're just gonna be my look out. You don't even have to touch the leopard head._ "

"Come on," Jocelyn protested, "you know it was funny."

"Oh, it was hilarious," Gwendolyn agreed earnestly. She chuckled. "I swear I thought I was going to bust a rib I was laughing so hard. Especially when the Dionysus campers started chasing you down. But you know that Chiron had to punish you guys for that. Just be thankful that Mr. D is still away or you two would be bottlenose dolphins right now." Gwendolyn tossed a spray bottle and cleaning rag to each of them. Theo and Jocelyn groaned in unison. "Quit your whining and get to work. The sooner you get to work, the sooner you're done. And the sooner you're done, the sooner I can be done supervising you."

"By supervising, you mean sitting around doing nothing," Jocelyn said.

"Obviously," Gwendolyn said. "But I'd rather sit around doing nothing _outside_."

Theo looked morosely around the attic. "There's no way we'll get all of this done today."

"Probably not," Gwendolyn agreed cheerfully, leaning up against the wall and pulling out her phone. "Now go on."

Theo and Jocelyn shared a look, then got to work.

* * *

Cleaning the attic was tedious. Theo and Jocelyn moved from table to table, wiping up dust, making sure that labels were still intact, shining some of the flashier weapons. Meanwhile, Gwendolyn remained by the entrance. She'd taken a seat on the floor and was doing something fun on her phone while Theo and Jocelyn slaved away.

Through all of it, Theo still couldn't shake the uneasy feeling he'd had since stepping into the attic. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up. A bead of sweat worked its way down his spine. "So Theodore," Jocelyn said, making Theo start.

Theo groaned, interrupting whatever Jocelyn was about to say. "Aren't you tired of using my full name to annoy me?"

"It's still annoying you, isn't it?" Jocelyn asked. Theo nodded. "Then why would I get tired of it? Anyway, I've got a question for you. When are you going to tell Jake how you feel?"

Theo felt his face heat up. For a moment, the unease he'd been feeling was replaced with a totally different kind of unease. He cleared his throat awkwardly. "I don't know what you're talking about," he said, trying to sound nonchalant.

"Come on, dude," Jocelyn said. "It's _super_ obvious. _Everyone_ can tell. Except Jake. But then, that's why you two would work so well together. You're both oblivious morons!"

"I'm not a moron!" Theo protested.

Jocelyn laughed. "Theo, I love ya, but yeah, you sorta are. Remember last week, when we were hanging out at Fort Stoll for the first time in _ages_ and you couldn't get the PlayStation to work and it took you like… an hour to figure out that it wasn't plugged in?"

"It was thirty minutes," Theo grumbled. Jocelyn laughed again. Theo groaned. He was never gonna live that one down.

"You two have been in that spot for a long time," Gwendolyn observed from the front. "I hope you're not wasting time."

"You are having _way_ too much fun bossing us around," Jocelyn called back.

"It _is_ really fun," Gwendolyn replied.

Theo stepped deeper into the attic, away from the awkward conversation Jocelyn had forced on him. Theo _did_ really like Jake, but the idea of telling Jake that petrified him, especially since Theo didn't know for sure whether Jake liked guys or not. Sure, Elizabeth thought Jake liked him back, but that wasn't a guarantee.

Suddenly, Theo felt a spike of uneasiness. He stopped, standing stock still. His breath came quickly and shallowly. He looked around, wide eyed. Then he found it. It was a simple wooden stool with three legs, but when his eyes found it, every hair on his body stood straight up. In the back of his mind, Theo thought he heard whispering, though he couldn't tell what it was saying.

Jocelyn came up alongside Theo, completely oblivious to his discomfort. "Hey, Gwendolyn," she called. "I found you a stool to sit on instead of the floor."

"I don't even want to touch that stool, much less sit on it," Gwendolyn said uneasily, coming over towards them. "That was the stool the Oracle before Rachel Dare used. She uh… was a mummy for a lot of years, and couldn't move from the stool. As a result, some of the Oracle's residual prophetic power seeped into the wood. If I get any closer I'll probably go into a trance or something. Just being up here is giving me the heebie jeebies."

Jocelyn frowned. "I don't feel anything weird."

"I do," Theo said softly. Almost against his will, he moved closer to the stool.

"It's probably because you're the son of Apollo, god of prophecy and master of the Oracle," Gwendolyn said lowly.

"But I don't have any power of prophecy," Theo said, taking another step towards the stool.

Jocelyn shifted uncomfortably. "Hey, Theo, why don't you stop looking at the stool like that. You're creeping me out."

"All demigods have some power of prophecy," Gwendolyn said. "That's why you guys get those dreams. But being near that stool is probably affecting the Apollo in you."

Theo was right in front of the stool now. Every conscious instinct in his mind was screaming for him to run, but inexplicably, he reached out for the stool. Gwendolyn coughed. "Uh, Theo? I wouldn't touch that if I were –"

Theo's hand met the wood of the stool and the room around him dissolved. Everything was blackness. The voices he'd heard whispering before increased in intensity, but there were so many of them that he couldn't make out anything they were saying. Theo shut his eyes tight and gripped the sides of his head, trying to block out the cacophony. Five words got through, words that sounded like a line from a prophecy: "Daughter of two heroes great."

The voices were gone. Theo opened his eyes. He found himself crouched behind a pair of seats in what seemed to be a tour bus of some kind. Wind pulled at his clothes, and he noticed there was a huge hole in the side of the bus. His bow was in his hands. Elizabeth crouched next to him, sword in hand. They shared a determined look, then she dove around the seat and charged towards the front of the bus. Theo crouched higher so that he was over the top of the seat and loosed an arrow at a monster.

The world spun, and suddenly Theo found himself in a boat speeding across a body of water. He was in full armor. Theo gripped the railing and peered ahead. The boat was shooting towards an island on which there were several buildings, the largest of which appeared to be a castle. Catapults and ballistae were firing off of the island, the projectiles splashing in the water all around the boat. Elizabeth was next to Theo again. A flaming cannonball was plummeting out of the sky straight at their boat. Elizabeth turned her sword into a trident and fired it at the cannonball, blasting it out of the air.

Then Theo found himself in a garden, the castle from the last part of the vision right behind him. He was still in full armor and, for some reason, held a sword in both hands. Next to him was Jocelyn, who was also wielding a sword. They fought alongside a bunch of other demigods against a seemingly endless horde of monsters. A little ways away in front of a tower, Elizabeth and her brother, Matt, fought against the son of Atlas, Drake. At their feet was a bloody corpse Theo couldn't identify.

The vision shifted again. Theo was dashing down a hill, the same castle still behind him. By the light, it was barely dawn. Theo was drawing his bow taut, looking up at the sky as a huge metal dragon descended.

Suddenly, Theo found himself behind a barricade on what appeared to be a bridge. He wore a thick winter coat over his armor, and his breath came up in fog. From the security of the barricade, he and a squad of other ranged fighters were shooting at an advancing army of demititans.

Then Theo was in Time's Square. He and Jocelyn were holding up an injured Elizabeth between them and all of them looked on in awe at a massive hurricane taking up most of Time's Square. At its center appeared to be Elizabeth's father.

Once again, everything changed. Theo was in the courtyard just outside of the Olympian Throne Room. Allies and enemies were packed together, shoulder to shoulder, fighting in extremely close-quarters combat. A little ways away, Theo saw Elizabeth, all on her own, climbing up the short set of steps in front of the Throne Room doors, Jocelyn covering her with her pistol and whip.

"AHHH!" Theo screamed. He yanked his hand off the stool and stumbled back several paces. Gwendolyn and Jocelyn caught him before he could fall over.

" _Di immortales,_ what happened?" Jocelyn asked, perplexed.

"Theo, what did you see?" Gwendolyn asked.

Theo pushed away from both of them. "I – I – I have to get out of here," he said breathlessly. He dashed for the stairs. Jocelyn and Gwendolyn called out to him, but Theo didn't respond.

* * *

Theo didn't stop running until he was at the beach. He stared out over the waves, his head pounding. He hadn't stopped sweating. For a moment, he'd thought he was going to puke, but he didn't. But those visions… what were they?

"Premonitions," said a young man's voice.

Theo almost jumped out of his skin. Standing right next to where Theo was sitting was a tall white guy who looked about twenty, with blond hair and ray ban sunglasses wearing a stylish tank top, shorts, and flip flops, despite the fact that it was the middle of March and thus too cold for those clothes. Theo recognized him, even though he'd only met the man once before.

"D-dad?" Theo asked breathlessly. "Wh-what are you doing here?"

"Well I am the god of prophecy," he said. "I sensed it when you got those visions. You okay, kiddo?"

Theo blinked, still trying to catch his breath (and also temporarily setting aside the fact that his father had just called him kiddo). He couldn't process the images he'd just seen. But he understood what his father had just said. "So you mean… I saw the future?"

"Pieces of it," Apollo confirmed, sitting down next to him. "The whole future is / Far more complicated than / The glimpses you saw."

Theo smiled slightly. His father's haikus were _really_ bad, but it cheered him up slightly to hear the poem. "So, what did the visions mean?" Theo asked. "What's going to happen in the future?"

Apollo frowned. "I can't tell you. I'm sorry, but there are rules that even I, in all of my awesomeness, cannot break."

Theo groaned. "If you aren't here to explain my vision to me, then why are you here?"

"I want to make sure you're alright," Apollo said. "Glimpses of the future can drive people mad if they dwell on them."

Theo sat in silence, thinking about what he'd just seen. It was all so jumbled together that he couldn't make heads or tails of it. One thought did come through, though. "My visions were so… bleak. In almost every part, we were fighting an endless horde of monsters and demititans. And one of them was on Olympus itself. Do we… do we lose this war?"

"I couldn't tell you even if I knew," Apollo said. "There are multiple ways this conflict could resolve itself. Even I can't tell which one will happen."

"But we lose in one of these possibilities."

"I didn't say that," Apollo said. "But listen, Theo, knowing the future is a terrible thing in and of itself. But getting glimpses? Without context? That's even worse. You'll never figure it out, no matter how much you dwell on them. Only bad things will come over obsessing over these visions. You must focus on the present and let the future sort itself out."

"But the future looks so… so bad," Theo said morosely. "How can I focus on the present with what I've just seen?"

"I can't tell you exactly what to do, but I'll tell you what I'd do in your shoes," Apollo said. "You want to focus on the present? Get yourself a boyfriend. Maybe that son of Hephaestus you like so much?" Theo felt his face heat up again at the mention of Jake. Apollo stood up. "I wish I could stay longer, but I've left the sun chariot on auto-pilot for too long. Zeus will probably get pretty mad if I don't get back to it."

"Wait a second," Theo said, the very beginning of his vision popping into his head again. "Part of my vision… I heard a bunch of voices. The only thing I could make out was 'Daughter of two heroes great.' Is that part of the prophecy about Elizabeth and Gaius?"

Apollo looked away. The sun got intensely bright to the point that Theo had to close his eyes. When he opened them again, Apollo was gone. Theo sighed. He wished Apollo had been able to explain what he'd seen. He wished he could talk to someone about his visions, but his father was right. Obsessing about the future wasn't helpful, and Theo was going to make sure that no one else had to deal with the burden of his visions. He _had_ to focus on the present. He couldn't control the future.

Speaking of which, it was high time that he found Jake and told him how he felt.

* * *

 **AN: I will see you guys soon enough with the next one-shot. Remember to vote in the character poll!**


	7. My Dad Makes Me a Promise

**AN: Hey guys! Here I am with another one-shot. You'll actually see me again really soon, since I'll be posting the one-shot for the poll winner tomorrow, which is Sierra. So tomorrow, you'll get to see a Sierra Grace one-shot. But for now, I'll respond to some of your reviews.**

 **First, from J. Cage: "** **Are you planning for a Percy Jackson one shot?"  
A: I have ideas for some Percy Jackson stuff, but that's mostly on hold until I get through Elizabeth Jackson.**

 **Next from EllaAnnieGrace: "My gods, that was deep, an had alot of foreshadowing,I bet, and the Percy creating a hurricane part that makes me think of LO, so I'm guessing, Percy's probably fighting a child of Hyperon, maybe even the daughter of Hyperon on Gaius' council."  
A: Yeah, lots of foreshadowing. That's all I'll say.**

 **From cghe: "So both the Jocelyn and Theo one-shot are in 3rd person. Is there a reason for that? Or just to avoid confusion? Because the Elizabeth Jackson series and the oneshot are both in first person, so I am slightly confused."  
A: For the Elizabeth Jackson related stories, Elizabeth is the only one who gets the first person perspective. That's just a stylistic choice I've made. That's the only real reason that Theo and Jocelyn and Augustus get third person perspective.**

 **Also from cghe: "Also, Percy's birthday could be 1992, but the talkpage on .com is very confusing, so I won't comment on that."  
A: Either way it's alright. I am flattered that you've done so much research just based off of my work, though!**

 **From anonymous reviewer Person: "** **This is what we call foreshadowing. I liked this a lot, but I was wandering if you are going to do another untold story addition. Thanks for writing amazing stories"  
** **A: I'm glad you liked it, and thank you so much for the compliment! I will definitely add more to the untold stories at some point, but right now I've been focusing on Elizabeth Jackson, so additions to that might wait for my next break between books, or maybe even until after book 5. Sorry about that.**

 **From Soricon: "** **how old is Elizabeth as of the ending of book 3?"  
A: Fifteen. She turns sixteen between books 3 and 4.**

 **From Katie: "When are you going to post the 4th book in the Elizabeth Jackson series? Just wondering."  
A: Chapter one is scheduled to go live on Tuesday, June 14th - that's next week - should everything irl go well over the next few days.**

 **From anonymous reviewer Person (who may or may not be the same Person from before?): "Besides any of the Rick Riordan's characters and Elizabeth who would you say is your favorite character (OC)"  
A: Hmm... that's a tough one. I love all of my OCs. But I think I would have to say that my favorite besides Elizabeth is probably Jocelyn.**

 **From the-only-soldier-left: "Ahhhh yay! Finally, Theo! Also, on a less happy note... That was bleak"  
A: It took Theo a while, but he finally did it! And yeah, it was pretty bleak.**

 **Finally, from EllaAnnieGrace again: "Could you tell a major us a major city in your time zone please? This is just so I can know when to expect an update (mentally)."  
A: I'm in the same time zone as New York City. Also, I'm usually pretty busy during the day plus I'm a bit of a night owl, so I may upload pretty late, my time, on occasion. Hope this helps!**

 **Alright, that's all I have to respond to. I hope you guys enjoy the one-shot and DFTBA!**

* * *

 **Summary: (Set a little more than a year before Elizabeth Jackson and the Stolen Goddess). After ages, the Jackson family is finally going on vacation, but something is bothering Elizabeth, so Percy pulls her aside to talk about what's wrong.**

 **Spoilers: No huge ones.**

* * *

My Dad Makes Me a Promise

"Are we there yet?" Matt asked from the seat next to me.

"Have we stopped moving yet, doofus?" I replied.

"Don't call your brother a doofus, Elizabeth," Mom said from the front passenger's seat. "And no, Matt, we've still got about ten minutes before we get there."

Matt groaned. I rolled my eyes and turned towards the window, staring at the mountains as we wound through them. It was actually really beautiful. I'd never been to the Adirondacks before and I'd never seen mountains like this in person before. I was from the City. I kinda had a hard time believing that we were still in the state of New York, this place was so different from the bustling metropolis I was used to.

"Look, kids," Dad said from the driver's seat, pointing out his window. I looked out to the left and saw two huge structures with ramps coming down from them. "Those were used as ski jumps in the Olympics here a bajilion years ago."

"The Lake Placid Olympics were not a bajilion years ago, Seaweed Brain," Mom chided. "Bajilion isn't even a number. And anyway, they were in 1980."

"That was more than ten years before I was born," Dad replied. "So that automatically makes it a bajilion years ago."

"Wait, so that's Lake Placid?" Matt asked. "We're here? Where's the lake?"

I groaned and bashed my head into the seat in front of me. Sometimes my little brother could be so annoying. I loved him and all, but he was such a kid sometimes. "That's just the jumps, moron. Lake Placid is an actual town."

"Elizabeth, what did I say?" Mom said warningly.

"You said I couldn't call him a doofus," I said matter-of-factly. "You didn't say anything about calling him a moron." I regretted the words as soon as I'd said them.

Mom whipped her head around, her grey eyes storming over. "Elizabeth –"

Dad chuckled. "Come on Wise Girl," he said. "Elizabeth got you on this one."

Mom turned to Dad so quickly I was surprised that her head didn't keep going out the windshield. As Mom started snapping at Dad, he glanced back and met my eyes in the rearview mirror like, _You're welcome_. I smiled slightly. Dad was awesome.

Finally, a few minutes later, we were actually in the town of Lake Placid. Matt leaped out of the car so quickly, I thought I heard a sonic boom. I got out of the car like a normal person. I turned to follow Matt and Mom down the hill towards the lake, but before I could, Dad placed his hand on my shoulder. "Hey, you owe me one," he said.

I suppressed a smile. "Alright, alright. I owe you one. Thanks for saving me back there, Dad."

"You're welcome," he said. He sighed. "But uh… well, you're not usually so short with Matt. Is something wrong? Did you two get in a fight or something?"

I looked down. I'd been trying hard not to think about it. This was the first family vacation we'd been on in ages. Mom was usually too busy with work to take enough time off for a vacation, much less a full week. I didn't want to ruin it by being upset the whole time. Even so, I couldn't hide anything from Dad. He knew me too well. "It's about when we went to the beach the other day."

"Oh," Dad said with a frown.

"I just… I know you took both of us there, but it seemed like it was something you just wanted to do with Matt. I mean, you spent the whole time teaching him tricks with his water powers, but…"

"You don't have any," Dad finished. "And you felt left out."

I nodded, hiding my face and trying really hard not to cry. "I guess I'm just jealous of Matt. Not just because he has powers and I don't, but also because you and him have something to share that you and I don't."

Dad rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm sorry, Elizabeth. I shouldn't have done that. Worst dad ever, huh?"

"No!" I protested. "Dad, I love you. You're the _best_ dad ever."

Dad snorted. "Yeah, right. Listen, I shouldn't have been helping your brother practice when you were there too. That was my bad. Don't take it out on Matt, alright? And that part about you and I not having a thing for just the two of us? Well let's fix that."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, I have a couple of tickets to a concert," Dad said. "An old hardcore band I've liked for a long time. They're doing a reunion tour. I was going to take your mother, but she doesn't really like that sort of music. Do you want to come with me instead?"

"Go to a concert with you?" I asked, unsure. "Do you think I'll like it? Will they let twelve-year-olds in?"

Dad smiled. "I'm sure it'll be fine. And you're gonna love it, Elizabeth. I can tell."

I smiled back. "Okay, thanks Dad. I'd love to go with you to that concert!"

"Glad to hear it. Now come on, let's catch up with your mother and brother and go get some food. I think we passed this restaurant called the Dancing Bears that I really want to try out."

* * *

 _Four years later_

"AHH!" I screamed, throwing a rock angrily into the lake, and dropping to the ground. I panted, trying to get my emotions under control. _It's fine,_ I told myself. _So the naiad doesn't know anything. That doesn't mean they're… gone._

 _That's exactly what it means_ , I responded to myself. Oh great. I was arguing with myself again. I stood up, clenching my fists. So, I was out of leads. What next?

My stomach answered me by growling loudly. I sighed. "Looks like I'm eating," I grumbled. I turned away from the lake and looked up and down the mostly empty street, the sun setting behind the hill. The first restaurant I saw made me choke, my eyes tearing up slightly. The Dancing Bears. The place my family had gone to eat when I was a kid, visiting Lake Placid for the first time. I took a deep breath. For some reason, I knew that that was where I needed to go. I'd eat, I'd make a call, and I'd regroup. But this wasn't over. I was going to find them.

* * *

 **AN: Little sneak peek into book 4 at the end there! I hope you enjoyed, and I'll be back tomorrow with a story about Sierra. Also, I'll be including a summary for book 4. See you then!**


	8. Sierra Grace and the Mystery Text

**AN: Hey guys, I'm back again with the last one-shot before book 4 comes out, which is SUPER exciting. Let me tell you, this one is going to be great. I'm really excited to bring you guys book 4! But before all of that, let's do some review responses.**

 **First, from Person: "** **I don't know why, but I think "they" and "them" are Elizabeth's parents and/or family. Just a hunch,"  
A: You'll have to wait and find out.**

 **Another one from Person: "Great job with this. I can't wait for Sierra's one-shot and for book 4. Sooooooo excited."  
A: Me too! I'm really looking forward to sharing book 4 with you guys!**

 **Next, from cghe: "You spend hours a day writing you stories. If you're so dedicated writing them, I should at least be halfway dedicated to reading them."  
A: Well thank you, I really appreciate it.**

 **Another from cghe: "Book 4: Who...what the...is going on?"  
A: MWAHAHAHAHA, I just love teasing you guys!**

 **And one last one from cghe: "Also, any reference to the "miracle on ice"? Does Elizabeth score a big victory?"  
A: That would be a fun reference to do, but no I wasn't planning on anything, haha.**

 **Finally, from EllaAnnieGrace: "Oh I can't wait for every thing! *squeals* and thanks."  
A: Not too long to wait now! And you are welcome!**

 **Alright, that's all the review responses I have for you guys today. A couple of notes real quick before the one-shot begins. Firstly, I know we aren't anywhere close to Christmas, but this is set around Christmas time. Secondly, this story ended up taking a VERY different direction than I initially planned. So that's cool, I guess. However, I have a feeling you guys will have a lot of questions about this one. So instead of waiting however long between now and when I post the next Elizabeth Jackson one-shot, I will answer your questions to this one-shot at the BOTTOM of chapter 1 of book 4. So yeah. That's all. Time for the story. DFTBA!**

* * *

 **Summary: Sierra is heading home for Christmas, but she's very stressed about the war, despite everyone telling her to calm down and enjoy her break from being Praetor. Yet her stress levels will only increase when she gets a mysterious text message from an unknown number...**

 **Spoilers: Up through the end of book 3.**

* * *

Sierra Grace and the Mystery Text

Sierra tapped her phone on her leg as the plane came in for a landing in New York, waiting for the flight attendants to tell them they could turn their devices back on. Her brother, Riley, looked over at her, his blond eyebrows raised. "Sis, calm down," he said. "It's almost Christmas."

"I can't just _calm down_ ," Sierra said. "I'm Praetor and we're in the middle of a war. I should be doing things. Instead, I'm in an airplane where I can't call or text anyone about what's going on."

"Tony can handle things on his own while you're gone," Riley said. "Try to enjoy your vacation instead of stressing out the whole time."

Sierra sighed. She knew that Riley was right, but it was hard not to be concerned. The war with the demititans had definitely escalated since last summer. The Legion was engaging in nearly twice as many combat operations as they had over the summer. And now, as Praetor, Sierra was responsible for the whole Legion. Her co-Praetor, Tony, was better at managing his stress, but even he was being run ragged, which was part of the reason that Sierra felt so guilty about taking a time off for Christmas.

" _It's fine, Sierra,"_ Tony had said. _"You've been working harder than anyone. And you've got family that will want to see you. Go home for Christmas. I'll be fine, I promise._ "

The plane jolted as the wheels hit the pavement. The captain's voice came on over the speakers. "We have landed in New York. The local time is ten o' clock A.M. The temperature outside is a brisk twenty-five degrees Fahrenheit. We'll be taxiing up to our gate in the next couple of minutes. Feel free to turn your electronic devices back on, but please remain in your seats until we're at the gate."

Sierra was way ahead of him. She'd started booting up her phone as soon as the plane's wheels touched the ground. Riley sighed in exasperation. "Sierra - "

"Drop it Riley," she said shortly. "Not only am I your older sister, but I'm also your commanding officer, and I'm telling you to drop it. I'm going to be stressed, there's no way around it, so stop pestering me."

"You're _really_ going to pull the Praetor card on me?" Riley asked incredulously. Sierra responded by glaring at him. Riley muttered some unflattering words under his breath, then turned towards the window.

Sierra looked down at her phone, which had fully booted and connected to the wireless network. She went straight to her messages and checked for texts. She had four. One from Tony, one from Matt, one from Amy, and one from a number she didn't recognize. Sierra tilted her head sideways, confused. Who that she didn't know was texting her, and why? She'd check that one last, mostly because she knew that if it was something important or suspicious, she'd spend a lot of time trying to figure that one out and not respond to the others.

First, then, she checked her message from Tony. _Remember to enjoy your break. I've got everything handled while you're away. Just enjoy your Christmas._ Sierra didn't respond, partly because that message didn't need a response and partly because she was getting pretty annoyed with people telling her to relax.

Next she checked the message from Matt. _Just made it to New York. I was talking to Elizabeth, and she didn't say anything specifically, but I'm pretty sure she and Augustus are still fighting really bad over the breakup. Thoughts on how to keep them from ruining the Christmas party?_

Sierra thought about her twin brother and her friend, Elizabeth. That had been messy. She'd heard both sides of the story, and neither of them were good. It'd been a little more than five months since they'd broken up, which seemed like a lot of time, but Sierra knew from experience that that was deceptive. After all, Matt had been weird around her for a year and they'd never dated. With Augustus and Elizabeth the way they were, and with the breakup having been as messy as it was, there was no telling how long it would take for things to return to something like normal between them. And knowing had badly the two of them at fought even before they started dating, the potential for a Christmas-ruining argument was dangerously likely.

 _I think our best chance is to keep them separated as much as possible,_ Sierra typed back to Matt. _I don't know what else we can do._

Sierra sent the message. She was glad that she and Matt were back to being friends. After she'd rejected him, he'd been weird for a whole year. It had been really rough, because Matt had always been her closest friend. But she'd never liked him the way that Matt used to like her. If she was being completely honest with herself, she really wasn't interested in dating at all. Weird for a granddaughter of Aphrodite, but it just wasn't all that important to Sierra. Anyway, Matt had been really distant. Then, suddenly at her Aunt Thalia's funeral, Matt had come up to comfort her. Sierra had been overwhelmed and nearly crushed Matt with her hug. He told her after the fact that Elizabeth and Amy had finally convinced him to let go of what had happened. Ever since then, the two of them had gone back to hanging out, which was fantastic. Of course, now Elizabeth and Augustus weren't getting along, which felt like a trade off. It was unfortunate.

Sierra switched over to Amy's text. _Hey, quick question. What do you think I should get Matt for Christmas?_

That was another interesting situation. Amy and Matt both had a thing for each other, but neither of them had told the other yet. They were both too afraid. Nevertheless, both Sierra and Elizabeth had been trying really hard to get them to tell each other. Amy's family would be coming to New York in just a couple days for the annual Christmas party at the Jacksons' place. Amy had confided in Sierra that she was going to try to tell Matt how she felt about him at Christmas, and so Sierra imagined that Amy's present to Matt would be a part of that.

Sierra replied, _I'll have to give that some thought. I'll let you know if I come up with anything._

Finally, Sierra got to the mystery text. She couldn't shake the feeling that something about the message was important. She opened it and read the message. "What?" Sierra wondered aloud, perplexed.

Riley glanced over. "What did you say?"

Before Sierra could respond, the plane came to a stop and the captain's voice came over the intercom. "We have arrived at our gate. Thank you once again for flying with Delta airlines. We look forward to serving you again soon."

People started getting up and gathering their carry-ons from the overhead compartments. "So what were you saying just now?" Riley asked.

Sierra locked her phone and shoved it back in her pocket. She didn't want to draw any attention to the message she'd just gotten. "Nothing," Sierra lied. "Just saw something weird online, that's all. Come on, let's go meet Mom and Dad."

* * *

Sierra and Riley's parents were waiting for them at bag check. Actually, they'd already grabbed their suitcases. Of the two, Sierra looked more like their Mom. They both had the same chocolate hair, the same dark tan skin (though Sierra's was a shade lighter), and the same body type. The main difference was that Sierra had her father's sky blue eyes rather than her mother's kaleidoscope ones. Riley took more after their father, with the same blond hair, tall, athletic build, and lighter skin. His eyes, however, were like their mother's.

Their parents grinned and came over. After everyone hugged, Sierra's Mom said, "We missed you two so much. How are you doing?"

"I'm great," Riley said. "Sierra's stressed out, though."

Sierra shot her younger brother a death glare, but it was too late. "What's wrong honey?" her mother asked.

Sierra frowned. "Uh, I'm just stressed about the war. And I'm a little guilty to be leaving my co-Praetor alone with everything that's going on."

"I'm sure he'll be fine, dear," Sierra's father said. "Take a deep breath, okay? It'll be alright. You're only here for a few days. Try to enjoy it."

Sierra was getting tired of hearing the same thing over and over, but she just nodded and said, "I'll do my best. Where's Augustus, by the way?"

Out of everyone in her family, Sierra missed her twin brother most. He could get on her nerves sometimes, but he was her twin. The two of them had been inseparable for many years, starting even before birth. After she'd gone to Camp Jupiter and he'd gone to Camp Half-Blood, it'd felt like a piece of her was missing. She'd learned to manage without her twin brother, of course. She'd even excelled. But she still missed him a lot of the time. She was hoping that he would come with her parents to pick them up at the airport.

"Today's the last day of school before break," their Mom said. "He wanted to come, but he's already missed a lot of school this year for missions and quests, so he really had to go today." Sierra's father didn't look happy about the "missions and quests" thing. If she had to guess, Sierra would say that he was upset that all the work he'd done when he was younger to make the world a safer place hadn't stopped the demititan war from happening.

Sierra was disappointed, but she understood. And anyway, she'd see Augustus again in just a few hours. That wasn't too long to wait. "Alright guys, let's go get in the car," Sierra's dad said. "You two are probably tired. It's like seven back in California."

Riley yawned widely in response, making all of them chuckle slightly.

* * *

Back home, Sierra lay in bed, staring at her phone, thinking. Her room was very tidy and still, completely untouched since she'd been home last Christmas. Sierra opened the text again, staring at the words on the screen. _Meet me at the Rockefeller Center Plaza at 2 AM. I have information that may help you in the war. Come alone._ Who was the sender? What information did they have? And more importantly, was this a trap? If it was, then she didn't dare go alone. But if it was real, bringing someone as backup could ruin her chances to get the information. And information was important. They'd essentially been flying blind the whole war. If Sierra had a chance to get information, however slim, then it was her duty, as Praetor of Camp Jupiter, to try and get said information, wasn't it?

Sierra was interrupted from her thoughts by a knock on her door-frame. She glanced up from her bed to see Riley standing there. "Can you believe it?"

"Believe what?" Sierra asked, confused.

"Our brother put a ton of stuff on _my_ side of our room," Riley complained.

Sierra tilted her head sideways. "Uh, you and I don't really live here anymore anyway, so what's the big deal?"

Riley shrugged. "I don't know. I just feel sorta… sad. It's like Augustus is over us being gone. Like he was thinking, 'Oh, good, I don't have to share my room anymore. I can put my stuff all over Riley's part of the room now.'"

"I'm sure it wasn't really a decision," Sierra said, sitting up and frowning at her younger brother. "He probably just started putting stuff over there over time. And I know for a fact that he misses having us around."

Riley sighed. "Yeah, yeah I guess."

From down the hall, their father called, "Hey, you two, do you want to go get some lunch?"

Sierra looked at Riley. "Let's get lunch. And by the way, for the guy who was telling me to calm down earlier, you seem to have worked yourself into quite the mood." Riley opened his mouth to respond, but closed it, realizing that Sierra was right.

* * *

The rest of Sierra's day was actually really good. She enjoyed spending time with her family and not having to worry about commanding the Legion. Finally reuniting with her twin brother was fantastic, too. She had really missed him. And she was finally looking forward to enjoying her vacation. There was only one pesky thing preventing her from finally relaxing like everyone had been saying. The text message. _Meet me at the Rockefeller Center Plaza at 2 AM. I have information that may help you in the war. Come alone._ Well it was almost time, so if she was going to go, she had to get ready. She felt conflicted about it, but her curiosity outweighed her caution this time. Sierra sighed as she yanked on her winter boots, pulled on her coat, hat, and gloves, and strapped a sword around her waist. Quietly, she crept out of her room and down the hall towards the living room.

That's where she hit her first snag. Augustus was still up, playing a video game on mute on the TV. He paused the game and looked over when she came into the room. "Hey little sis," he whispered. "Going somewhere?"

"We're twins," Sierra said. "I'm not your 'little sis.'"

"I am _fourteen minutes_ older than you," Augustus reminded her. "Ergo, you are my little sister. And you didn't answer my question. You going somewhere?"

"Since when do you use the word 'ergo'?" Sierra asked, avoiding the question.

Augustus shifted uncomfortably. "I uh… picked it up from - Doesn't matter. I know you, and I know that you're avoiding the question. Now come on, where are you going? It's like… 1:40 in the morning."

Sierra sighed. "I uh… got a mystery text message. Someone claims that they have information to help us with the war. I'm supposed to meet them alone at Rockefeller Center at two."

"You realize that it's probably a trap, right?" Augustus said.

"Well, yeah, that's why I'm bringing my sword," Sierra pointed out, motioning to the hilt.

Augustus stroked his chin. "I've got a better idea. How about I be your backup in case this thing _does_ go south?"

"The text said I had to come alone," Sierra said. "If this person really is going to give me information, I can't afford to scare them off."

"They won't see me," Augustus assured her. "Remember, I can fly. I can hide at the top of the Rockefeller building and watch you with binoculars. If trouble shows up, I can drop in and help you out."

Sierra rubbed her neck, considering it. It was a good idea, and it could definitely work. Plus she really had to get going or she'd be late for the mysterious meeting, and Augustus wasn't going to let her go without her agreeing to have him along. Besides, it'd be nice to work alongside her brother again. They hadn't done something like this in a long time. "Well… alright," she said. "But make sure you really are out of sight. If this really is going to provide me information, we can't scare this person off."

Sierra stood in front of the giant Christmas tree in Rockefeller Plaza, which was deserted this time of night, being in the tourist-y part of the City, her breath steaming in front of her. She rubbed her gloved hands together, trying to keep warm, and pulled out her phone to check the time. 1:59. She looked around, trying to spot someone, anyone, approaching her. "Where are they?" she wondered aloud.

"Here I am," said a voice that Sierra didn't recognize. She turned, surprised. A man was stepping out from behind the huge Christmas tree. He wore a red pinstripe suit like a gangster and a matching fedora cap pulled down low, blocking his face from Sierra's view. His voice was calm and had an element of cockiness to it. "Sierra Grace, an honor to finally meet you."

"Hmm," Sierra said, her guard coming up. "Wish I could say the same, but I don't know who you are."

"Who I am is not important," the man said. "What is important is the information I'm about to provide you. For a price, of course."

"You didn't say anything about money in the text you sent me," Sierra said, her hand resting on the hilt of her sword.

The man raised up his hands. "No need to get defensive. And I'm not talking about money. No, I want an exchange. I will give you important information about the demititans, if you give me information about your war effort in exchange."

Sierra laughed derisively. "Yeah, right. So you want me to give you information about our side of the war in return for information that you're going to give me that I won't even know is accurate? Yeah, no thanks. I'll pass."

"I won't have any guarantee the information you give me is accurate," the man said matter-of-factly. "We're just going to have to trust each other. But believe me, you are going to want the information that I have."

"And what do you plan to do with the information that I give you?" Sierra asked. " _If_ I agree to do this exchange, which, by the way, I haven't agreed to yet."

The man spread his hands. "That's not the way this works. Now, do you agree to the exchange or not? I'm a busy man, Miss Grace, and I need to know one way or the other."

Sierra hesitated, trying to think. What information did the guy have? And did she feel comfortable giving him information of her own in exchange for it? She opened her mouth to respond, even though she wasn't sure what she was going to say yet, when suddenly another figure approached them. This person was dressed in the same type of suit, except dark green, also with a fedora pulled low over his face. "What do you think you are doing?" the new man asked in a deep voice.

The first man turned to the second one. " _You're_ not supposed to be here."

"Well I am," the second man said. "And _you're_ breaking the rules."

"If I could just interject," Sierra said, "I don't know who you people are, and I don't know what's going on but -"

Both men looked at her and every hair on Sierra's body stood on end. The second man turned back to the first and said, "You are going to come with me." He turned to Sierra. "And _you_ will have to be taken care of."

The second man snapped his fingers and he and the first man disappeared. In their place, a group of five Hyperborean giants appeared in their place. "Shit," Sierra muttered.

She ripped her sword from its sheath and leaped backwards as the giants breathed ice at her. Augustus, true to his word, dropped out of the sky, his massive sword drawn. He landed on one of the giant's face and stabbed it. The monster froze into ice sculpture and shattered. Augustus landed next to Sierra. "Hey little sis," he said. "I see you've got yourself into some trouble. Need help?"

"We're twins!" Sierra snapped.

They rolled aside in opposite directions as the Hyperborean giants charged forward. Sierra raised her sword and called down a lightning bolt. There was a rumble and a crack, then a white-hot bolt of energy shot out of the sky and ricocheted off her sword. Two more of the giants were blasted apart. On the other side, Augustus rolled between another giant's legs and stabbed it in the butt. Very quickly, the twins had destroyed all but one of the giants. The last one was hesitant to attack, probably because Sierra and Augustus had destroyed his friends so quickly. But they didn't wait for the last giant to attack. Sierra and Augustus charged forward, drawing back their swords. The giant roared, breathing ice at them. Sierra hit the ground, baseball sliding underneath the ice breath. Augustus leaped ten feet into the air. He came down, stabbing at the giant with his sword as he fell. At the same time, Sierra leaped back to her feet and slashed upwards. The giant didn't stand a chance. In a split second, it was over.

The siblings panted, looking at each other. "So what was all that?" Augustus asked.

Sierra frowned, looking towards where the two men had been standing. "I… don't know. Those guys were strange…"

"Did you get the information?" Augustus asked.

Sierra shook her head. "I guess he wasn't supposed to be here, and someone like the first guy showed up and took him away."

"Weird," Augustus said.

It was more than weird. Sierra had an odd feeling, like there was something a lot bigger going on than even the demititan war. But what could it be? Who were those guys? And why did they want information about the demigods?

"You've got your thoughtful face on," Augustus said.

"Yeah," Sierra said, trailing off. "I'm just concerned. There's… so much going on with the war. And now I've got these weird suited guys to think about… It's just a lot to handle."

Augustus put an arm around his sister's shoulders. "I know. But it'll work out. I know it will. We can get through this war and we can get through whatever those guys are up to."

Sierra sighed. She hoped he was right, but she just didn't know. Even so, she looked up at the Christmas tree and tried to feel positive. "Well… I'm happy to be home right now, at least, regardless of the craziness going on."

"I'm happy you're home, too," Augustus said. "I missed you, sis. It's been really weird not having you around these last few years. Merry Christmas, Sierra."

"Merry Christmas, Augustus."

* * *

 **AN: I hope you guys enjoyed it! And like I said, if you've got questions, I'll answer them at the bottom of chapter 1. Now one final note, I promised you guys a summary of book 4, so here you go. Enjoy, and I'll see you next week with chapter 1!**

The war with the demititans is going full force and Elizabeth is right in the thick of it. Elizabeth finally has a chance to lead the mission that she's been planning for months, which could bring the demigods a big victory. But unbeknownst to Elizabeth, this victory comes with a huge cost, one which will send her whole world spiralling out of control. Yet the biggest battle of the war so far is quickly approaching, and Elizabeth needs to be on her top game. Can she manage that, though, when everything in her life seems to be falling apart? With everything going on, the stakes have never been higher for Elizabeth and the gang.

 **And that's it. I know it's a lot shorter than the summary for book 3, but there's a thing that happens very close to the beginning of book 4 that I _really_ do not want to spoil in the summary, so the vagueness is intentional. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed, and I will see you soon!**


	9. AN: One Day Delay for Book 4

**AN: Hey guys, it's me. I'm sorry to say that I will not be able to upload the first chapter of Elizabeth Jackson and the Veil's Destruction tonight. A bunch of stuff happened irl and I just won't be able to post today. I WILL be able to upload the first chapter tomorrow. I'm really sorry for the brief delay, but I hope you're excited for the new book anyway!**


	10. Book 4 is Live

**AN: Hey guys! I just posted book 4! So yeah. Go check that out. I hope you enjoy!**


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